Of Angels And Demons
by HairoM
Summary: Tsunade adopts five orphans and the happy family moves to Konoha. What could possibly disturb their peace? Errr... maybe the reappearance of a certain Uchiha? The Uchiha who broke one dobe's heart... AU, SasuNaru, NejiGaara, pure shounen-ai. NO LEMONS sry
1. Make Him Ignore Me

_I don't remember where the idea to this story came from. It tells the story of Naruto as a high school student in his 3__rd__ year. It's a SasuNaru fic but I'm going to add NejiGaara too!_

_I think it's going to be sad (I have the basic lines for the plot) but I promise it'll have a happy ending. Sorry if I disappoint any of you, but I just can't do it to Sasuke and Naruto and to Neji and Gaara. I mean, I'm gonna make them suffer a lot so it's just fair that I give them a happy ending right? Right. _

_In any case, I hope you enjoy this._

**Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Naruto and characters. However the plot line is completely mine (aside from some things from the original Naruto manga\anime).**

_HairoM_

.o.O.O.o.

Tsunade was not the type of woman you would think to adopt a kid. She didn't appear like that at all. She was a strong independent woman, beautiful like a twenty year-old woman and certainly short tempered like one. She didn't have a lot of patience and her glares were scary enough to make a strong man fidget uncomfortably. Tsunade was a doctor-a very talented one- in Wave country and everyone respected her. She was rich and famous almost all around the world for her healing abilities. But only a few truly knew her.

She was born in Konoha, the capital of Fire country, and was actually the descendent of the founder of the city. Her family was, of course, of the richest and highest society but Tsunade was never like her family. She was too stubborn, too independent and she always had questions. A lot of questions, but her main questions revolved around happiness. Being born to one of the richest families she never lacked money and at first she thought money was the cause of happiness. But then, as she grew up and saw her parents fight and argue and simply become mad because of money she realized money was not the cause of happiness. But then, what was? She had no idea.

She wanted to become famous and rich because of her own talents and abilities and not because she was the great granddaughter of Konoha's founder. So she decided to become a doctor and started medic school at the age of twenty. During all the seven years she studied to become a doctor she never stopped wondering: what was the cause of happiness? What could make her truly happy? And then she fell in love with her classmate. He was amazing and Tsunade thought: _this is the cause of happiness! Love…_but on the day before her wedding day Tsunade lost her fiancé to a car accident. It was hard to pull herself together but she did so anyway and struggled to move on with her life. She could've done that if not for the second loss in her life: her brother died six months after her fiancé did. She broke down. She lost all interest in life and in everything else. Even her unanswered questions were neglected. Tsunade didn't care anymore.

But like a warm sun ray in the cold winter, _that_ boy popped up into her life. Like a warm refreshing breeze full of longing, he appeared one day and Tsunade was alive again, alive and full with hope.

His name was Uzumaki Naruto and he was a seven year-old orphan. She saw him at the orphanage and he captivated her. He was not so different from the other kids and yet so different. She couldn't explain it. She became attached to him as days grew by and she found out that she was happy again for some odd reason. But what? She had to find the answer and in order to do that she knew she had to keep Naruto close to her. She spent a lot of time with the boy and he told her everything about himself and about his life. She learned that his family was also killed in a car accident and that he had a twin sister named Kyuubi. "She was very sick," he told her and looked down. "Very, very sick…" his tears fell to the ground and he hid his face in his hands. "Very, very sick…"

Tsunade officially adopted him four months later and they began their new lives together. Tsunade was happy again and Naruto was happy.

Their life together was not always happy and easy, though. They faced many problems and obstacles. Naruto was a sensitive child and very gentle and caring. But he was also strong willed and he wanted so much to be happy together with Tsunade. And as for Tsunade, she was not exactly the mother-type woman but she cared for Naruto, her new child, and she wanted him to be happy.

Two years later the Sabaku sibling came into their lives. They were a tough looking gang but Tsunade knew that it was only on the outside. There was a horrible story behind their rough appearance and Tsunade and Naruto gladly welcomed them to their family. Temary and Kankuro were much easier to handle than the youngest Sabaku, Gaara. He was an angry kid, full with hate and rage. The first time they met, Tsunade was so amazed by the foul language Gaara had used that she was unable to speak for several moments. But she understood. There were no other words that could describe the boy's pain better than those curses he spat at her. She understood. But Naruto was a different case. He was not as tough as her or Gaara and she was afraid he would be too afraid of the boy to try and befriend him but he surprised her. Oh he cried, many times even, but he was stubborn. He wanted to be Gaara's friend and he didn't give up. Slowly Gaara began to accept that fact and eventually gave in. They began to form a special bond between them, like real brothers'. Gaara learned of Naruto's weaknesses and defection and the same could be said about Naruto. Gaara protected Naruto from everything and Naruto showed Gaara that life could be so great, that there was no need to hate so much or to be angry for such a long time.

When they were twelve, Tsunade sent Naruto and Gaara to a summer camp and she regretted it for a long time after they came back because it was at that camp where Naruto met Uchiha Sasuke. And it was after that, when all their troubles began. When Naruto came back he was so happy and love sick Tsunade thought at first that it was a good idea after all-despite all her worries- to send him over to that camp. But as time went by Naruto became depressed. She didn't know why and the boy didn't tell. When Naruto stopped eating properly and began losing weight she was really worried. She took the boy with her to the park one day and asked him to tell her the truth. He did and she was surprised when she heard what he had to say.

He said he made a wonderful friend. "I think I am in love with him, baa-chan…" he said. Tsunade didn't know what to say. What could she say to such statement? Besides, she didn't believe it was real love. There was no way it could be true love. How could an eleven year-old boy possibly know something about true love? Those issues never interested boys his age. In fact she knew children were always disgusted by the thought of falling in love. But then again, Naruto was always different. "He promised he would write to me…" Naruto whispered and a tear slid down his cheek. "And he didn't?" Tsunade asked knowingly. She knelt down in front of him and lifted his chin with one gentle hand. "Look at me Naruto." Naruto looked up, his eyes filled with tears. Tsunade kissed him softly on his forehead and said: "Honey, it will be alright. I am sure Sasuke wants to write you a letter but he must be having some problems. Did you give him our address?" When Naruto nodded she smiled. "Then it will be alright. Maybe you should write him first," she suggested. Naruto looked to the ground and mumbled: "he didn't give his address." Naruto didn't hear when Tsunade murmured: "bastard." He looked so lost and helpless, like a lost kitten.

"Listen," she said. "If he doesn't care about you then he's not worth your love. Naruto…my Naruto, you have so much to give and you're such an amazing boy. If Sasuke can't appreciate it then he's not worth your tears, ok? Forget him baby. Be happy," It was easier said than done, but although Naruto was fragile, he was eventually able to get over Sasuke and forget about him though he could never forget about him completely. He just forgot how it felt to love Sasuke.

And four years later, a cute looking girl joined their family. Her name was Ten-Ten and she was a year younger than Naruto and Gaara. Ten-Ten was different than all of them because she actually had a father. "He's off somewhere," she said when they asked her where her father was but she never agreed to elaborate. Ten-Ten was cute and funny and quite tomboyish. She was stylish and yet her mannerisms were quite awful, much like those of a hyperactive teenage boy. She loved to dance and sing and always carried a guitar on her back. She was amazing with the instrument and Naruto would often ask her to play something and she would agree eagerly. But her name was unusual. Naruto suspected that it was a nickname she had chosen for herself and never understood why. When he asked Tsunade about it she only said: "Ten-Ten is the name she wants to be called and Ten-Ten is the name we will call her." Naruto didn't try to ask Ten-Ten because the first time he did she said: "It's my real name!" and ran off to somewhere. He never believed her but he was too nice and gentle to dare to ask her again. In his thirteen years-old mind he somehow understood that it was a private thing and he respected her privacy.

But one day came a phone call. It was a man Naruto didn't know.

"Hello, Tsunade's house."

"Hello, can I speak with Tsunade-san?"

"She's not here right now. Shall I leave her a message?"

"Umm no. Is Mai there? Can I talk to her?"

"Mai? I'm sorry we don't-" but someone snatched the phone away from he and Naruto was surprised to see Ten-Ten giving him a terrified glare and speaking to the man on the line. Naruto heard her saying: "Dad," before he left her alone. He found out Ten-Ten's real name…It was Mai. Naruto thought it was a fitting name (1) for her and he liked it. So he didn't understand why she would want to hide it. That evening Tsunade gathered everyone in the common room and said Ten-Ten had something to say. Ten-Ten fidgeted uncomfortably and for a moment didn't say anything. And then she began to speak.

Her mother died giving birth to her and her father tried to raise her but he was a guy and he didn't know how to do that. Also he was poor and couldn't possibly raise a baby so he gave her to a foster family. Ten-Ten never knew of his existence until she reached the age of six and had been through too many foster families to even count. Her father showed up one day, saying he was sorry and that he missed her so much. Ten-Ten forgave him 'cause she wanted a real family so much. He told her he couldn't take her with him but he will come to visit her. Ten-Ten didn't mind too much-she was just happy she had a real father. Her father did come to visit her as she left a family after family. She never seemed to fit in and no one ever seemed to truly want her. That was why she acted like a boy and had no mannerism at all. She grew up to be a tough and strong girl.

Her father sent her money sometimes but Ten-Ten didn't care, now he was like a faded memory and she wanted nothing to do with her past. It was then that she adopted the name Ten-Ten. "It means nothing and yet everything," she told them. "Ten-Ten is how my friend used to call me. She was with me in one the foster families but we were separated when I was sent to a different one." So from that day on they called her Ten-Ten without questioning. Ten-Ten was grateful forever and everything seemed to be ok from that day on.

But you know, the future was always unpredictable and all one could do was pray. Pray the future would be better than the present and not worse.

"I got a job offer guys," Tsunade announced one evening when they all were sitting around the dinner table. They (except for Gaara) looked at her curiously. "They called me from Konoha." Naruto and Ten-Ten gasped and both Temari and Kankuro looked equally surprised. Even Gaara turned to look at her with a slight interest.

"Isn't it your hometown, baa-chan?" asked Naruto in excitement. Tsunade nodded. "Yes it is. They need a doctor and apparently they've heard about my skills," she said smugly and made Kankuro snort. Tsunade laughed. "Anyway they offered a large payment. Much more than what I get here but I said I have to talk with my kids about it first. So what do you think?" she examined each one of them and waited patiently. Each one of them had a different expression on his face. Temari was contemplating and Kankuro frowned, deep in thought. Ten-Ten seemed to be excited about the idea and Gaara for some reason looked displeased. But the expression she wanted to see the most was Naruto's. He smiled softly, as if thinking about one of his bizarre dreams that he liked so much, and said nothing.

"I think it's a good idea," Temari said finally.

"Yeah, it'll be a new beginning," added Kankuro nodded. They all knew too well how much a new beginning could help them.

"What about you Ten-Ten?"

"I think we go for it! I heard Konoha is one of the most interesting cities in the world!" the girl answered enthusiastically.

"I also think it would be nice," said Naruto and Tsunade smiled, relieved.

"Gaara?"

"Whatever, I don't like it," was the boy's reply. No one said anything and only the sound of forks and knives could be heard in the room. "Urgh! Just do what you want! I don't give a shit anyway," Gaara said after a while.

"Are you sure? We don't have to move if you prefer-"

"I don't prefer to stay here."

No one spoke again after this but the decision was already made the moment Gaara said he didn't mind. The rest of them were pretty much excited about the move. Temari hoped she could start to work as a fashion designer (she studied art and fashion designing in college) and Kankuro wanted to start college in Konoha. Tsunade encouraged them do so and planned on sending them to the best schools (like she always did). She registered Naruto, Gaara and Ten-Ten to Leaf Academy in Konoha, which was the best school in the whole Fire country of course. There were also a lot of other arrangements to be done (like taking care of the shipment of their things and selling the house they lived in) but they left the Wave country four months later and that was when trouble found them again.

XXXXXX

The clock announced the hour: 07:00. It was time to get up but the sleeping figure on the huge bed seemed not to notice. The long curtains covered the big, large windows therefore the room was still dark despite the sun that had long ago began to rise. The annoying alarm clock kept on ringing and the sleeping figure finally gave up and heavily lifted itself and stretched out a hand to shut the damned thing. "Urgh…" Tsunade groaned unhappily and searched for her slippers. Where were the stupid slippers? Oh there… once she found them she went to open the windows and then left the room for her morning duty.

The house they received was very big, very much bigger than their old house back in Wave, and it's been only a month since they arrived here so she was still quite not used to its size. Everything seemed to be big about this house. Tsunade walked like a zombie down the hall and to the remarkable large marble staircase and reached her first target. She only bothered to knock twice on the wooden door before entering and reaching the window. She pulled aside the indigo curtains, ignoring the groans of protest from the figure in the bed, and walked toward the bed. "Kankuro! Wake up!" she roared and pulled the blanket off the half awake Kankuro. "You've got work to do!" Tsunade left, leaving the door open, and moved on to her next target. She knocked on the next door (twice) and entered. "Gaara! Wake up kiddo! You'll be late for school!" Gaara something that suspiciously sounded like 'fuck off' but Tsunade only laughed and reached the bed to ruffle the boy's crimson hair affectionately. She pulled aside the crimson-colored curtains and, again, left the door open and went to the next room. The next room was Naruto's. She entered the room and was greeted sleepily by the blonde boy. "Morning baa-chan," Naruto said while trying to surpass a loud yawn and smiled sheepishly. "Morning gaki," Tsunade warmly smiled back and went to open the lime and yellow colored curtains to reveal the morning sunrays. "Get up gaki, you'll be late," she said and left to wake up the last kid who needed to wake up. The soft pink curtains in Ten-Ten's room were already pulled aside and said girl was already brushing her teeth in the bathroom. "I'm almost ready!" she said and Tsunade smiled. Despite her behavior, Ten-Ten was always organized and aesthetic, maybe due to the fact that she had to take care of herself most of the time in the past. "I think breakfast is almost ready," Tsunade said back and went down to the kitchen.

Breakfast was ready. Shizune was just setting the table when Tsunade came in and grabbed a bottle of orange juice from the refrigerator.

"Good morning Tsunade-san," the young woman said with a smile.

"Morning," Tsunade replied. "Would you mind dropping Kankuro at school? I plan to drop the others at theirs."

"Sure. Aren't you going to buy him a car?" asked Shizune curiously.

"The brat needs to work for at least half of the price. I want them all to learn that they have to work for the things they want. I'm not going to let them turn out to be like the snobbish rich brats around here who think they own the world." Tsunade retorted and Shizune smiled. "Besides, do you know what he's fantasizing about? Bugatti Veyron 16 something… do you get it? I told him to dream on."

"It's 16.4," Kankuro walked in and took his seat near the table.

"Whatever, if you want it so much you'll have to pay more than half of the price," she told him and he shrugged. "Ok," he said. Tsunade huffed. Two minutes later the rest of the kids arrived and also began to eat the breakfast Shizune made. Shizune made each of them their favorite food so she smiled contently when they all looked satisfied and happy.

"Where's Temari nee-san?" asked Ten-Ten.

"She doesn't have to get up so early. She starts working at eleven so I allowed her to sleep a little bit more," said Tsunade.

Fifteen minutes later they were done and Tsunade urged the Naruto Gaara and Ten-Ten to get in the car. "Kankuro, behave!" she told the boy before getting into the car herself and leaving. The Sabaku brothers were tough, rough and quite impolite.

They arrived at Leaf Academy fifteen minutes later and one by one Tsunade's kids hopped out of the car and bid her goodbye. Ten-Ten was the only one who hugged her, though, but it was reasonable. The other two were boys, and teenagers no other. But she just had to ruffle their hairs and say: "Don't get into trouble, monkeys!" she laughed when they each glared at her and she knew that they were probably wondering what kind of mother would call her kids 'monkeys'. She waved them good one last time and drove off.

Three kids stood at Leaf Academy's gates and looked utterly lost. It was the biggest and most expensive looking school they had ever seen (and Tsunade always sent them to the best schools). The place was filled with students, all wearing the same expensive uniform, chattering with friends and sharing experiences from the summer vacation. Naruto thought it could be nice if they, too, knew someone there, but they were the new kids. Not new like the freshmen but completely new. Unlike the freshmen, they were to enter classes with students who probably already socialized with each other and probably didn't like new kids butting in. Naruto gulped at that thought but Gaara's hand immediately found his and Naruto was able to relax. Even Ten-Ten looked a little anxious. Naruto took a deep breath and stepped forward. "Come on guys," he turned to his brother and sister, "we can do it. We're together, right?" Ten-Ten nodded enthusiastically and Gaara offered him a small smile. "Yeah," they said and followed him when he made his way through the students. As they walked towards the building Naruto noticed the looks they received. They somehow looked out of place. Maybe because no one had seen them before or maybe because they had that foreign aura surrounding them that made it so clear that they were not originally from the fire country. And of course they were not! They were born in the Wave country (like Naruto and Ten-Ten) or raised there (like the Sabaku); they were water kids as much as those kids staring at them were fire kids. _Hmm…fire and water…somehow it makes me feel uneasy when I think about this way_, thought Naruto but he decided to ignore the feeling.

A man came to greet them. He was tan-skinned, his hair tied up to a spiky ponytail but oddest thing about him was the scar. It crossed his nose bridge from one cheek to another but in an odd way it made him appear like a gentle and nice person.

"My Name is Umino Iruka. I suppose you are Tsunade's children?" he asked, his voice was nice. Naruto and Ten-Ten beamed at him and Gaara just stared at him like he was an alien who just asked if he's got coca-cola. _Do aliens drink coca-cola?_ Gaara could care less even if they drank tequila.

"I'm Naruto," Naruto smiled and shook the man's hand.

"I'm Ten-Ten!" Ten-Ten jumped hyperactively and didn't bother to shake Iruka's hand. She was too excited to pay attention to formalities and besides, Ten-Ten never shook hands with someone. Gaara simply said: "Gaara," and kept his hands inside his pockets.

Iruka smiled warmly. _They are not that bad after all_, he thought. "It's nice to have you in our humble school. I'll be you guide this day and I'll give you a special tour around the place and I'll also try to explain how things are going here. If you please follow me now," He led them inside the building and Naruto was amazed once again by the beautiful architectural design of the school. Wood, stone and glass were combined wonderfully to create a magnificent hallway with high ceiling. The windows to their left were long, large and displayed the view of the lawns outside. Naruto couldn't wait to lie down on the grass and stare up at the clear sky. Iruka showed them the President and his vice's offices and knocked on the president's door. Someone said: "come in," and Iruka entered and urged them to follow him. The room was not very big and there was a large wooden desk near the large window and behind it sat a man with his head bent down over some papers. When they entered he lifted his head and Naruto saw an old man with a cape over his shoulder and a smoking pipe in his mouth. He smiled and told them to sit down.

"I am assuming you are Tsunade's kids," he said slowly, still smiling. When they nodded he continued. "You can call me Sarutobi. That brat, she's still as stubborn as ever. How is she doing? Is she alright?"

"She's great," said Naruto. "Do you know her jii-san?"

"Why, yes of course! I was her teacher way back then. She was short tempered and stubborn like a mule but very smart and talented." Naruto and Ten-Ten laughed. Even Gaara allowed himself a small smirk. "Yeah that's exactly our mother!"

"Tell her I ask her to come visit me someday. I know she's probably busy as the new head of Konoha's medical center. Tell her not to stress herself too much. Now if you'll excuse me, Iruka will continue your tour. I have some important paperwork to take care of," and with that he smiled and dismissed them. "He wasn't that bad," Ten-Ten commented and Iruka smiled. "Oh, he's not bad at all!"

Next Iruka showed them the gym, the orchestra room, the music room, the art room, the amphitheatre, the swimming pool, the two libraries and the stable. After all that he led them to their homeroom classes and gave them their timetables. "Naruto your homeroom teacher is Hatake Kakashi. Gaara, yours is Baki and Ten-Ten yours is Maito Gai. If you need any help or just want to talk I'm in my office. Lunch is at 13:20, ok? I'll take you to your classes now." And once again he led them through hallways and corridors and to their classrooms. Gaara was the first to go. He stared into Naruto's eyes and then into Ten-Ten's. He looked as if he was about to resist so Naruto smiled and slightly squeezed his hand. "We'll be fine," he promised. Gaara nodded and entered the classroom. Ten-Ten was next. She hugged Naruto as if they would never see each other again and smiled happily. "I'm extremely excited!" she announced before entering. Finally Iruka brought Naruto to his classroom. "Don't be afraid Naruto-kun," he said to the boy, seeing that he was slightly trembling. "I'm sure you'll do just fine." Naruto nodded and whispered: "It's just that it's a bit hard without Gaara and Ten-Ten. I really don't like being alone…" but before Iruka could say anything he smiled and added: "Oh, but I can do it, don't worry!" and with that he left a stunned Iruka and knocked on the door. It was opened by a weird looking man. He wore scurf or some sort of garment around his face and only one of his eyes were visible. _Is he sick?_ Naruto wondered when the man beamed at him (though he could only tell by the eyes). "You are Naruto-kun, aren't you? Come in, come in! My classroom is your classroom!" Apparently he thought his own joke was very funny but Naruto was too nervous to pay attention. This teacher scared the shit out of him.

"Everyone! This is Uzumaki Naruto. He'll be joining our school from now on. Please take care of him!" The teacher turned to Naruto and introduced himself. "I'm Hatake Kakashi but you can call me Kakashi." Naruto nodded with great anxiety and tried smile. He was not very successful, though. "Now…where should you sit? You need someone responsible and smart to help you…I know!" he cried joyfully. "Who's better than the president of the student council himself?" he winked. "You'll sit next to Uchiha Sasuke!"

Everything came crushing down on him. His thoughts, his dreams, his world, his peace and serenity…everything turned black and Naruto found it hard to breathe. He didn't dare looking at the boy Kakashi pointed at. He was horrified. _Calm down Naruto_, he told himself. _It's probably a different guy. There's no way in hell it's him!_ Although he didn't know if Uchiha Sasuke were common names he hoped so. He prayed it won't be the same boy… he finally looked up and looked for the boy. There was an empty seat, and next to it, sitting carelessly and looking painfully indifferent was Uchiha Sasuke. Naruto held back a gasp. It _was_ the same Sasuke. And the more he looked at his handsome face, the more he felt the urge to run away, to leave. But he couldn't. And as he sat down he hoped Sasuke will never talk to him. _Please make him ignore me…!_ He prayed.

.o.O.O.o.

(1) Mai- it means 'dance' in Japanese. That is why Naruto thought it was a fitting name for Ten-Ten, 'cause she loves to dance.


	2. ASol

_Of Demons and Angels_

_Here is the second chapter. It's kind of short but I hope you enjoy it anyway. I'm quite in a hurry so I won't write too much. _

_Enjoy!_

_Chapter 2 – A Sol_

.o.O.O.o.

Tsunade was waiting in the car when the bells rang and students began to rush out of the building, overjoyed that the first day of school was over. She waited. Not too long after the bell was heard she could see her first child err… bounce out of the building. Tsunade smiled. Sometimes Ten-Ten was like a little girl with all her energy and enthusiasm. The girl waved at her mother and rushed over to the car.

"Hey gaki how was your first day?" Tsunade asked when the girl got inside the car. Ten-Ten smiled "It was great! I made loads of friends!" she answered. Tsunade smiled in relief. But then again, it was Ten-Ten after all and Ten-Ten always made friends, everywhere and anytime. The girl was just like that, maybe life made her that way and maybe she was born like that-Tsunade didn't know but it didn't really matter.

The next two to come out of the building were Gaara and Naruto. They were together but that was expected. They were always together when they could. Gaara glared at anyone and anything (that was expected too) and Naruto smiled slightly and waved good-bye to a black haired girl. Something was off about his smile and it made the woman frown. _You better not be in trouble kid_.

"And how was your first day gakis? Tsunade asked and started the engine.

"It was nice," answered Naruto. His voice was monotonic and his eyes showed something… fatigue maybe?

"Really?" she asked him. "Naruto, you can't fool me, you know that." It was true. Naruto was an expert liar (believe it or not) but no matter what, he could never fool his mother. She could always see through his lie and she always had ways to find answers. He could never forget the day she discovered his bruises. And he did so well to hide them from her sharp eye! But one day she just came and pulled his shirt up. She was terrified and mad when she saw the bruises on his body but she wasn't surprised. It seemed that she suspected but didn't quite believe it 'till she saw it with her own eyes. She scolded him for not telling her that he was abused at school and she was so mad that her child was mistreated! The next day Gaara severely injured the kids who abused Naruto and Tsunade transferred them both to a different school.

Naruto sighed. There was no point in hiding the truth from his mother. But this was about…_that_ boy and _that_ boy was a sensitive subject.

"He met Uchiha Sasuke," it was Gaara. His usually indifferent voice had a tint of irritation to it and his eyes drifted to glare at Tsunade. She didn't know what to say. Those words caught her completely off guard. Uchiha Sasuke? The bastard? She never expected him to be in Konoha-if she did, she would've never moved back here with her kids. The reappearance of the bastard upset her greatly, too greatly than she would admit, but she didn't show even the slightest of anxiety when she spoke.

"Is that so?" she mumbled. Naruto shot a glare at Gaara who was not affected by it at all and smiled when Tsunade looked at him through the mirror.

"It's alright mom," he assured her. "I got over him, remember? Gaara's just over reacting. Really, it's nothing." He didn't even know why he still desperately tried to hide the truth from her. It was obvious she already knew it but still, he was just unable to tell her himself. Maybe he was afraid to admit it to himself, admit the truth that he still had some feeling for the boy, deep down.

"Over reacting my ass," said Gaara but didn't push it any further. They dropped the subject after that but Tsunade was still thinking about it when they reached their home. There was nothing she could do at the moment aside from letting it go on. Maybe Sasuke won't be a problem if they let it slip by. Maybe he won't trouble Naruto…

That evening, after dinner, they gathered in the large family room and decided they should play cards. Kankuro suggested it and he also informed them that no one in Konoha knew how to play A-Sol.

"What?!" That was pretty absurd in their opinions because A-Sol was a game any kid knew how to play in Wave. Kankuro nodded knowingly. "Yup. I asked that one guy in my college to play A-Sol with me and he just stared at me like I was a cabbage with eyes!" they all laughed.

"Ok then let's play President! (1)" said Temari and began to distribute the cards among themselves.

"Yes let's play A-Sol (1)!" cried Naruto and Ten-Ten. Temari scowled and said: "We play President." Ten-Ten smirked. "Sure thing, we play A-Sol," she said.

"I said it's President!"

"I agreed that it's A-Sol!

"Will you stop that?! The hell, it's the same game!" Gaara sent them death glares and the two girls dared not to make him angry again. Temari finished dividing the cards and picked up her own deck. She had a 3 clover. She smirked and said: "I'm beginning." She put down a pair of 3. Naruto, who was next, put down a pair of 5. Kankuro growled. "Man! I have a pair of 4! Take yours back!" Naruto smirked. "I can't and you know that," he said smugly and made Kankuro growl once again. The dark haired boy took his time to examine his cards.

"C'mon Kankuro! How long does it take to pick two fucking cards?" Temari urged him to hurry. Tsunade shot her a glare for swearing and she smiled sheepishly.

"Fine! Fine!" He finally put down a pair of 8.

"By the way," Temari spoke once again, "I met a really nice guy at work!"

"Oh tight, how was your first day at work?" Tsunade asked. Temari grinned. "It was wonderful! My boss's name is Haruno Kaede and she's extremely nice and cool. She treated me to lunch and said I should get married!" she laughed as if the thought was too absurd to even consider seriously.

"And…? What about that guy you mentioned?"

"Oh he's name is Shikamaru and he doesn't even give a shit about me! I think…" she answered, quite disappointed.

"Then he's stupid!" announced Ten-Ten. Temari and Tsunade smiled. "Naruto, why the hell did you cut it?!" cried Temari.

"I had nothing to put!" he defended himself. "And now I can burn my set of 6!"

"Mom, can I bring over some kids from school?" Ten-Ten suddenly asked. Tsunade blinked. "It's only the first day," she reminded the girl. Ten-Ten grinned. "I know!" she said, "But I met those cool guys who dance really good and they asked me if I can dance so I showed them some of y moves and they said that I'm awesome. I want to show them my discs!" Tsunade sighed. It was always like this with Ten-Ten. What could she do about it? "Fine, but don't make a mess," she answered in defeat. Ten-Ten nodded enthusiastically. "No really," Tsunade repeated, "Don't make a mess!" "We won't! And if they do I'll kick their asses!" Ten-Ten promised.

"You can't kick their asses," Kankuro commented, "They're guys."

"Yes I can and I already did!" retorted Ten-Ten. They all turned to stare at her. "What? He was picking on me!" she said angrily.

"That's good," said Gaara and nodded approvingly, "You should kick anyone who threatens you. Make them pay for their rudeness, let them feel the fear and pain of being threatened, smash their-"

"Gaara!" everyone beside Temari and Tsunade laughed like lunatics. "Whatever," said the boy and put down a queen. "Shit!" cursed Temari, "You just had to block me huh?" Gaara smirked in a reply.

"Oh Naruto-nii, I heard you joined the Art club," said Ten-Ten. Naruto blushed lightly. "Uh yeah…" he admitted, "How do you know?" Ten-Ten shrugged and said: "Haruno senpai asked me if I can draw or paint or whatever and I said 'no but my brother can!' and she asked who my brother is so I told her. Then she smiled and said she already recruited you."

"Oh… she's nice, isn't she?" asked Naruto with a soft smile.

"Uh ha… she's super nice! Not like the senpais back in Wave," she agreed. "And the teachers are nice too! My teacher Gai is a weirdo but he's really funny!"

"They're as stupid as ever," said Gaara. Kankuro chuckled. "Aw…did the evil teacher punished you poor little Gaara?" he teased. Gaara sent him a death glare and retorted: "She gave us an assignment… on the first day of school! What a fucked up teacher!"

"Gaara…!" Tsunade warned.

"What's the assignment little bro'?"

"He said each one of us will have to escort a freshman during this year and help them adjust to school," They all laughed. That definitely was a reason for Gaara to be angry. Nobody could imagine Gaara as a babysitter or as big brother figure. He was just too scary. Naruto wondered Gaara would do. Although he suspected that Gaara will do it in the end- he didn't have a choice after all.

"So each one of you already joined clubs?" asked Tsunade.

"Yeah! I joined the music club! They saw my guitar and asked me to join so I did! I think it'll be fun!" answered Ten-Ten.

"What about you Gaara?"

"Not interested." Tsunade shook her head.

"And Naruto you joined the Art club right?"

"Yeah, oh mom, the principle sends his regards and asks you to come visit him sometime," said Naruto.

"The principle?"

"Yes, Sarutobi-san."

Tsunade's eyes widened from shock and surprise and Naruto was surprised to see tears form in them. "That old man…" she said and tried to hide her excitement but her voice trembled and the tears already began to slip down her cheeks, "I'll visit him tomorrow, I must see the old man again," she said after calming down.

The game was over and Ten-ten was the winner. "Ha!" she cried, overjoyed and pointed a finger at Temari. "You are the ASS-HOLE!!!" she made a little dance of joy and smirked smugly. "I am the PRESIDENT! YES! I ROCK THE WORLD!" Temari shrugged and left to her room saying that she had important things to attend to. That was when Tsunade decided it was about time they go sleep and sent them all to their rooms.

Naruto put on his pajama and climbed into bed. The moonlight penetrated through the large window and lit up the dark room. It made him uneasy but he knew it was that the moonlight was not the main reason for his uneasiness. Uchiha Sasuke was. Earlier, when they played cards, nobody mentioned him and Naruto was thankful for that. He didn't want them to worry over such matters. _Besides_, he told himself, _Sasuke doesn't remember me at all_. True, he was disappointed and his heart ached but he ignored those feelings and pretended he didn't know the boy too. It was the best way, he decided, to deal with the situation. If he pretended not to know Sasuke, the boy will never be suspicious and his life will move on smoothly. He didn't want his heart to break one more time. But damn! He could not forget Sasuke's bored face when he looked at Naruto. It hurt so much, more than he would ever allow himself to admit. And there was a little voice inside him that he tried to shut up all those years. He hated that voice because it said the truth and Naruto was too deep in denial. He didn't want to hear that inner voice but seeing Sasuke again seemed to wake up that sleepy voice and it gathered strength and began screaming again: _I love you Sasuke_. And as he closed his eyes he was unable to stop a stray tear from slipping out and sliding down his cheek.

XXXXXX

"I'll see you at home ok?" Tsunade watched her kids leave for their classes and then made her way to the principle's office. People stared at her, knowing too well who she was. She sighed and knocked on the wooden door. She heard a faint: "come in," and entered.

Sarutobi was older than what she remembered but his was smile was just the same; warm and true.

"Sensei…" she said, voice slightly trembling. Sautobi's smile widened and he gestured her to sit. Tsunade did and waited. Once again she felt like a twelve year-old kid when she sat there in front of her long time teacher. Tears threatened to come out again.

"Tsunade… I'm so happy to see you again," he said, his voice soft and loving.

"I'm happy to see you too sensei," she said and tears began to fall down freely. "I'm sorry for leaving without saying a word but I'm back now." Sarutobi nodded and gave her another smile. "Yes, you're back and you have five wonderful kids. I'm proud of Tsunade. You did great my child, you did great…"

XXXXXX

_No. No. Don't come over here!_ History was over and most of his classmates already left for lunch. Naruto cursed himself for not leaving the moment the bell was heard. There was nothing wrong with it actually except for the fact that Uchiha Sasuke stayed behind too. Naruto wanted to avoid the boy at any cost but then Sasuke got up from his chair and walked over to Naruto. _No I don't want to talk to you1 go away!_

"Hello Uzumaki-san," Naruto had no choice but to turn and face the Uchiha. When he did, his heart skipped a beat. He almost forgot how beautiful Sasuke was. The boy smiled at him and introduced himself: "I'm Uchiha Sasuke, student council's president, nice to meet you."

"Uh…nice to meet you too U-Uchiha-san," he replied in a rush. He felt his cheeks burn and cursed himself. _Now he'll think I'm stupid!_

"How was your first day Uzumaki-san?" asked Sasuke and suddenly Naruto knew what it was all about. As the president of the student council, Sasuke had to be polite and welcome the new students. It was what everyone expected him to do. _He didn't want to welcome you, he just __**had**__ to_.

"It was great. Everyone here is very nice. I don't think I'll have any problems adjusting so you don't have to worry yourself over me. I'll tell them you're a nice person if you want me to," said Naruto and managed to smile. Sasuke blinked; obviously he didn't expect that answer.

"Uh…no it's fine. I have a question to ask," he said. Frowned, as if contemplating and looked like he didn't know if he should ask or not. "Is there-" he began, "Is there any chance that we've met before?" Naruto was caught off guard by that question. So Sasuke did remember something. That knowledge made his heart ache even more because it was worse than not knowing. If Sasuke hadn't remembered at all it could've been easier to deal with. He remembered something but not Naruto himself.

"I don't think so," he replied. He couldn't help pondering over the look of disappointment on Sasuke's face. Why was he so disappointed? "Really?" Sasuke asked, raising one elegant brow, as if he didn't quite believe him but he decided not to push it any farther. "Well then, will you join me and my friend at lunch?" he asked the surprised blonde. Naruto found it hard to believe. Sasuke was…asking him to join him for lunch? Why? He couldn't possibly agree, could he? Although that stupid voice in him kept screaming _YES! YES! _Naruto ignored it and smiled instead. "I'm sorry," he told him, "but I'm going to sit with my family, maybe next time." _Idiot!_ He cursed himself. _Why did you have to say that?!_ Sasuke looked a little disappointed again but smiled nevertheless. "Alright then, Uzumaki-san. Have a good day and good luck!" and with that he left for lunch. Naruto sighed deeply. He felt like an old man all of a sudden. He sat down on a nearby chair and bit his lip. That stupid Sasuke… but for some reason it made him happy. He got up and left for lunch.

He found Gaara and Ten-Ten sitting with a blonde girl and a fat boy and joined them after taking a tray.

"Naruto-nii! What took you so long?" demanded Ten-Ten. Naruto smiled apologetically and sat down. The boy and the girl stared at him.

"Ino, Chouji, this is my other brother Naruto," Ten-Ten introduced him and Naruto gave them a bright smile. "Hello, nice to meet you," he said and the girl blushed and said "nice to meet you too." The boy said the same thing with a mouth full of food.

"Where have you been?" Gaara asked. Naruto fidgeted. "I-he came up to me…: he said. Gaara's eyes narrowed. "You mean the bastard?" Naruto nodded silently and proceeded to eat his food. Gaara let out a low growl and turned his head to look for Sasuke. The boy was sitting at the far end of the cafeteria with a bunch of snobs and Gaara noticed that almost every girl's eyes were gazing dreamily at the bastard.

_'Tche_, _what a stuck up bastard'_

XXXXXX

"Sasuke-kun, are you ok? You seem a bit off," Sakura noted and gave him a worried look. "I'm fine, it's nothing," He told her. She didn't believe that of course. Sakura was very sharp eyed and she knew her friend very well. He wasn't fine and something was bothering him. She deiced to let go of it for the time being and turned to ask Hinata something.

Sasuke couldn't help that feeling, that odd feeling that he used to know that Uzumaki Naruto. But why did he feel that way? Sasuke had to admit he was a little disappointed when the boy said he didn't know him and later when he rejected Sasuke's invitation. It confused him and he wanted answers. And he was going to get his answers. He kept glancing at the blonde boy who sat with a red-haired and cute jumpy girl. He must know why. He must have the answers. And this tingling feeling he felt in his stomach… he must find an explanation for it too.

Suddenly he saw the red-head turn to him and there was a sinister smirk on his lips. Sasuke's eyes narrowed automatically. The boy made a rude gesture (oh you know exactly what) and gave him a smug smirk before turning away again. He saw Naruto hit the boy on his arm and turn to look at Sasuke with panic. Sasuke smirked. It seemed like someone was picking a fight. And that was quite amusing because nobody ever picked a fight with him. The red-head was refreshing and Sasuke gladly took the challenge.

.o.O.O.o.

I'm sorry this is kind of short, I was in a hurry.

(1)President\A-Sol- it's actually the same game as Gaara said. It has two names but don't ask me why it's called like that-I don't know. Anyway in this game each player gets the same amount of cards and the purpose is to be the first to finish your deck. The one who has the clover 3 opens the game and is allowed to put any card and in any amount. *Temari put down a pair of 3 because it's best to get rid of the lower cards at the beginning* the next one to play has to put a card that is higher than what was put previously and in the same amount. If you have a set of the same number you can 'burn' it by putting them all down (but you can only do that if you are beginning or if you have a free opening). If you don't have a fitting card to put you can 'cut' the pile by putting down a 2 (that is if you have one) and by doing that you have a free\clear opening and you can put down any card you wish. The winner is called President or King\Queen and the loser (the one who finished his deck the last or didn't finish it at all) is called: 'A-Sol'. Temari insisted on calling the game 'President' because A-Sol sounds like ass-hole. And that's why when she lost the game Ten-Ten called her an ass-hole. Lol


	3. We Are Insane

_Sorry for the long delay! I have a lot on my mind, and loads of things to attend to. I really hope I will be able to updater faster. Pray for it! Anyway, here's chapter three:_

_Chapter 3-We Are Insane_

_.o.O.O.o._

The next day found Gaara sitting grumpily in his chair in class and glaring daggers at his teacher. The teacher, Baki, swallowed hard when he sensed Gaara's deadly aura and tried to calm the boy by smiling. Though, it had no effect on said boy at all. All Gaara could think about was how to kill Baki, so that the man would regret what he did. And what did he do? Oh he just paired Gaara with a stupid first-year girl. Fuck it all!

"So we will now begin our project. First years and third years please find your partners," said Baki and Gaara growled when a boney girl came up to him. "Hello Gaara sempai, my name is Matsuri," Gaara glared at the hand before him and said nothing. The girl drew back her hand and smiled awkwardly at him. _Go away_, he said in his mind but the girl didn't move, of course. "Umm, Gaara sempai, we should-" "Fuck off." Matsuri's eyes widened in shock and Gaara almost regretted his harsh words. Almost. But then he remembered that it was all her fault and he did not regret them at all. "Get lost you brat," he talked once again and watched as Matsuri stepped back, frightened. _Yeah, that's right. You're afraid now, aren't you? Yeah, go, run from me…_ Gaara did not smile when the girl just kept staring at him. "Didn't you hear-" "I-I heard you," she mumbled and did not take her gaze away from him. It irritated him to no end. "Then fuck off already," he said indifferently. "No." he looked up and glared. Did she just say no? Who the hell did she think he was?! A fucking first year?! "Did you just say no?" he asked his voice full of venom. She trembled and stuttered: "Y-Yes I did." Gaara had nothing to say to that. She openly admitted that she defied him! What a strange girl… "I-I will not go because y-you can't run away from responsibility," she continued. Gaara didn't say anything. He just glared at her and wondered. She was brave, indeed but it might also be mere foolishness. What was it? Well he supposed he could let her stay, whatever, it wasn't his class or something. So he finally said: "Whatever." He saw her smile slightly, and sit down beside him. He said nothing, she said nothing. Gaara watched as the other students interacted with each other and thought about his bed at home. How he wanted to sleep! School was just a fucking waste of precious time and he hated it! He just couldn't understand how Naruto liked school so much! Even back at Wave, when those fucked up kids used to bully him, he was still so fucking happy to go back to school on the next day! How was that possible? Gaara knew that there was a possibility that Naruto faked his happiness but he believed he didn't. He knew Naruto and he could see through his lies, just like Tsunade if not better. And he didn't lie about being happy to go back to school.

"Umm, so… w-where do you live sempai?" Matsuri's voice snapped him back to reality. "None of your business," he retorted rudely. Matsuri didn't make another attempt to start a conversation and Gaara was tired of sitting, so he got up and left the room, not bothering to think about Matsuri or the teacher for even a second.

He found an inviting bench in the school yard so he sat down and tried to relax. The breeze was nice. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Moments like that always made him think. Back at Wave they had a lot of days like these, full with sunshine and the view of the ocean. Konoha was a beautiful place indeed, full of trees and flowers, but he would need more time to feel there like at home. He still thought of Wave as his home although he knew it was not anymore. Funny how he never saw his _real_ home as home. Sunagakure was where he originally came from but he never liked the place. In fact, he hated it with every fiber in his body. Not because it was so fucking hot and dry there (it was a desert after all), he actually liked the weather, but because there was never something good for him there. He was born there, his mother died giving birth to him, his father despised him and wanted him dead (and would have done so if he could) and the only person he thought to ever love him turned out to be just a two-face bastard who hated him as much as his father did if not more. Gaara had nothing to love about that place. Feeling someone sit on the bench beside him, Gaara opened his eyes and glared at the person who dared to do such a stupid thing. The first thing he noticed about the boy was his eyes. They were amazingly pale, almost white, but it didn't look weird, and if it did then it was weird in a good way. And there was his hair-brunette, smooth and long, tied in a high ponytail. It swayed in the light breeze, dancing gracefully. And the uniform he wore, the loose white buttoned shirt, and the dark skinny jeans (he didn't wear the uniform pants) it all made him look better. Everything about the boy screamed 'EXPENSIVE' and for a moment there Gaara was reminded of the Uchiha bastard. But then again, it was, after all, a school for rich kids. Gaara decided that it was a waste of energy to glare at the boy so he closed his eyes again and ignored the presence beside him. Until the boy decided to talk to him.

"You're new here, aren't you?" he had smooth voice, low and stoic.

"And what if I am?" Gaara asked back, without even bothering to open his eyes.

"Nothing. Just wanted to make sure," the boy replied. "I am Hyuuga Neji. Nice to meet you," he pulled out his hand from his pocket and held it in front of Gaara.

"Gaara," said Gaara and opened his eyes to examine the boy. Neji smiled and it made him frown. He didn't bother shaking the other boy's hand. Neji put his hand back in his pocket and looked away. "Not the friendly type, are you?" he noted with a slight smirk, not really talking to Gaara but rather to himself.

"You got a problem with that?" Gaara asked indifferently, not the slightest effected buy Neji's statement. Neji shook his head. "Not at all," he answered, "I was merely asking." Gaara glared at him but Neji didn't seem to notice.

"Are you the Uchiha's friend?"

"And what if I am?"

"Tell him to prepare his coffin," said Gaara and an evil smiled crept up his face, his voice filled with venom. "I am soo ready to kill him…" and with that said he got up and left a stunned Neji to sit there by himself.

XXXXXX

Naruto put his Biology book back inside his schoolbag and left the already empty classroom. He was always the last to leave because he had a habit of going over what he wrote during the lesson. He always did that but he wasn't sure if it was much of a help. He was an excellent student in general but he put a lot of effort to become one. It didn't come to him easily so he had to study hard to remain and excellent student. He ran to the cafeteria and found out it was already crowded, as expected. He was the last to leave after all. He took his lunch tray and searched for his brother and sister. They were nowhere to be found so he sat alone near one of the round cafeteria tables. People still stared at him. But that was expected since it was only his second day of school and he was new in Konoha. Though he couldn't help but hope that they would stop staring at him. He was definitely nervous. Luckily, Gaara decided to show up at last and sit down in front of him.

"Where have you been?" Naruto asked, a little worried. Gaara shrugged. "Outside," he answered, not bothering to elaborate. He eyed Naruto, as if wanting to say something, but then decided against it and slowly began to eat. Naruto let him eat in peace and instead of talking, he scanned the cafeteria hall. For some reason his eyes searched for a certain raven-haired guy. He couldn't find him. Around the table of the 'popular' kids sat only Sakura, a pale eyed boy and a pale eyed girl. He was disappointed.

"You're doing it again," Gaara's voice brought him back to reality. Naruto looked confused. "What?"

"Stop looking for the bastard," said Gaara, indifferently. "You always look for him, search for him. Do you so easily forget what happened?" Naruto looked away. Gaara was right, of course. What happened… he didn't want to be reminded and yet he could not forget it. It didn't hurt anymore, not like it used to, but upon seeing Sasuke again… Naruto sighed deeply. He should stop thinking about Sasuke. The Uchiha was back again, true, but it didn't mean that his feeling were too. But it was so hard! Yesterday, when Sasuke stood so close to him at the end of class, Naruto almost forgot how to breathe, and his mind screamed.

"He's not here today, anyway," he finally replied.

"Why do you sound so disappointed about it?"

Naruto turned to look Gaara in the eye. "Because I can't help it!" he nearly screamed. "I can't help it! He talks to me, and looks at me and stands so damn close to me, and he even goes as far as to invite me to sit with him and his friends! I can't help it if he does all that! I can't help feeling disappointed, wanting to see him, wanting him to…" tears were already streaming freely down his cheeks when he stopped. Gaara's glare softened and he silently handed the boy a tissue. Naruto took it without a word a little too aggressively, and wiped his eyes and nose. "I don't want you to cry again because of him. He isn't worth your tears," he said after a moment of silence. Naruto nodded but remained silent.

"Where's Ten-Ten anyway?" they both turned to look for the girl. "Over there," said Naruto and pointed toward a bunch of boys who sat in the far end of the hall. Ten-Ten was among them and it seemed that she was doing pretty fine. "I hope she won't get in trouble," Naruto murmured. They turned back to their food but not for long. Several minutes later something broke the peace. "Someone's fighting over there!" cried a boy and in mere seconds the whole cafeteria was on its feet. Gaara paid no mind to the brawl that was going on and simply kept eating his food carelessly. Naruto, on the other hand, was curious. Back in Wave he often was the victim of such brawls and fights. There was always a kid or two whom, for some reason, didn't like him so they agreed on beating the shit out of him. He wondered who it could be this time. And then he saw a flash of two buns and he paled. "Isn't that… Ten-Ten…?" at his words, Gaara's head snapped up and he looked at Naruto for a moment before turning his attention to the fight taking place in the far end of the cafeteria. "That's our little sister indeed," he said and smirked. "Such a good girl…!" Naruto shot him a glare before rushing over to where Ten-Ten was. It was indeed Ten-Ten and she was punching one big guy's face really hard. "Ten-Ten stop it!" he yelled but Ten-Ten didn't listen. She kept on punching the guy. "Ten-Ten! That's enough! Stop it!" he went over to catch her arms but she shoved him aside. "No! I'll beat the crap out of him 'till he sees stars!" she screamed and moved on to kicking his legs and arms. "I think he's already seeing galaxies! Come on Ten-Ten, stop it!" Naruto yelled once more and Ten-Ten finally stopped. She turned to look at Naruto with fury. "He said we barbed our way into the school! He called us stupid orphans! Are you just going to stand there and do nothing?!" she fumed. Naruto made a step towards them but Gaara was quicker. Before Naruto could make another step, Gaara's fist already connected with the boy's jaw, and he punched him even harder than Ten-Ten did. The students watched in silence. Gaara was about to deliver another punch when Naruto stopped him. "That's enough," he said, "Leave him alone." Gaara let out a sigh but stopped. Instead of punching the boy again, he clutched the boy's shirt and smirked. "Such a shame I have to stop," he purred, "and I was having so much fun!" the boy beneath him managed to smile cockily. "Why should I be afraid of you?" he asked arrogantly. Gaara's smile widened and an almost insane look shone in his eyes. The boy swallowed.

"Afraid of me?!" asked Gaara with great amusement. "No, no, no. Don't be afraid of me! I'm just a little blood thirsty, that's all! But you see my brother over there?" and he pointed towards Naruto. The boy followed his finger and looked at Naruto skeptically. "He's fucking insane and when he's upset he goes berserk and even I can't stop him!" all the students, wondering who this scary guy could be, turned to look at Naruto. Naruto swallowed and blushed deeply. He smiled nervously and mentally cursed Gaara's stupidity. He could almost feel the students' disbelief. Someone laughed. "Umm, Gaara, I think we should go…" Gaara got up and dragged a reluctant Ten-Ten with him. "Mess with her again and I promise my brother won't be so nice," he told the boy before leaving. "And you!" he pointed at Ten-Ten who flinched and swallowed. Gaara was really scary when he was mad. "Next time make sure to castrate him! What were you thinking?! Those punches were so weak! You bring shame upon my teaching!"

"Aren't you being a little too dramatic?" She asked, smiling.

"Nothing's too dramatic when it comes to the battlefield!" he answered. Naruto rolled his eyes and Ten-Ten whispered: "definitely too dramatic." They didn't get the chance to get out of the cafeteria because at that moment Iruka decided to show up.

"What is going on in here?" he demanded, shock evident in his eyes. The boy still lay there on the floor and Iruka rushed over to his side. "What happened?" he asked. The boy only pointed toward Gaara and Ten-Ten. Iruka's eyes narrowed. "You three!" he called, "stop right there!" and they did. Naruto glared at Gaara. "Thank you Gaara's blood thirst!" he whispered. Gaara smirked and Naruto didn't like it at all. His smirks only meant trouble. And seeing how wide Gaara's smirk was, he knew his brother had something planned. Iruka walked toward them and his brown eyes where filled with anger. "What happened here?" he demanded. At first Naruto swallowed. How were they supposed to get away with this? But then he saw Gaara's smile and that was when he totally freaked out. "You see-" he began but Gaara cut him off. He turned to look up into Iruka's eyes and smiled again (as innocently as possible). "You see, "he said, "He came up to me and challenged me to a duel." Iruka stared in confusion. Gaara smirked and continued: "So I told him that I forgot my water-gun at home. I asked him if I could use his, and he said that I should use my sword. But you see, the problem was that my dear sword was stolen by the evil chipmunks from the tree in our garden so I couldn't use my sword! I told him that I don't have my sword but I could use a spoon. Really, I could have taken him down with a spoon but then my spoon would have gotten dirty. So we decided to fight with our bare hands. He thought he could beat me but he was wrong! I took him down!!! And that's how things happened! It was his fault anyway." Someone laughed but other than that, every other student struggled very hard not to. Iruka's eyes by then were mere lines in his face. He glared in suspicion. Ten-Ten gave him a wide grin. "Sensei, do you actually believe him?!" she asked, ignoring Gaara and Naruto's shocked expressions. Iruka examined her. Surely she wouldn't lie to him, would she? "Then will you tell me what happened?" he requested. Ten-Ten's smile became wider. "Sure!" she said. "This is what happened: I came here to eat lunch, an innocent little girl. I took my tray and went to sit with my friends. But then that guy showed up. He called us stupid orphans and said we barbed the Principle so we could get into this school. So I got angry, obviously. Wouldn't you feel the same way if someone called you a stupid orphan?! Huh? Don't tell me you'd just sit quietly and do nothing while someone humiliated you! What are you, a sissy?! C'mon man, you've got to stand up and fight! Be a man! I can't believe you would allow someone to say something so rude! Are you a man or not? Huh? If you're truly a man then prove it! If I were you I would've kicked that guy's butt long ago. C'mon, show him what it means to mess with you!"

"That's enough!" Iruka fumed. He couldn't believe these guys! Yesterday he thought they were ok, not too bad. But this… this was too much! First the redhead tells him exaggerated stories about some duel that obviously never happened and then this girl tries to manipulate him to punish the poor beaten up guy. "You two come with me!" he yelled and pointed at Gaara and Ten-Ten. "Detention!" the students made way for the fuming advisor to pass and Gaara and Ten-Ten followed him. "Idiots," muttered Naruto under his breath but smiled nonetheless. "See you after school!" Ten-Ten called to him and waved happily, as if being put in detention was the best thing that could've ever happened to her. Naruto returned a wave and sighed. At least he won't be going home alone.

XXXXXX

"So are you ready for your first day in the art club?" Sakura approached him, holding some papers in her hand and a bundle of brushes. Naruto smiled. "Definitely. You seem to be working hard already," he said, eyeing the things she held. "Haha, yeah, you could say that," she laughed and they started to walk.

As they walked down the halls, Naruto noticed how quiet the place was after everyone else left. Well, everyone except for the art club members and the ones in detention. The sky outside was painted gold, crimson and violet and thus the halls were also painted with the same color. It made the atmosphere more calming, full of longing. He didn't like this hour of day very much, it always made him a little sad. It could be because of the setting sun or maybe because the change itself, the change from day to night.

"You'll find that the members are very nice," Sakura said, leading the way to the club's room. "Some of them might be weird, but when you'll get to know them, you'll see that they're good people. By the way, I'm the vice president." Naruto was surprised. "Really? That's great. So who's the president?" he wondered.

"Oh, his name is Sai. I think he's the weirdest. You'll have to wait 'till you meet him."

"So you're a bunch of weird guys?" Naruto chuckled. "That's nice."

They reached a dark hall in which there were several doors, the same wooden dark doors. Sakura opened one and entered. Naruto followed.

It was quite a large room full of things, from large canvass to the tiniest of brushes. And it was messy. Three faces looked up when they entered and concentrated expressions turned into smiles upon seeing Sakura. "Sempai!" the boy, nearest to Sakura cried and got up from where he sat. "Hey Ren, how're you doing?" Sakura smiled at the boy who nodded enthusiastically. He said: "I'm great!" and then his gaze wandered toward Naruto and a blush dusted his cheeks. Sakura giggled. "Ren, this is Uzumaki Naruto. He will be joining our club from today. Naruto, this is Hanatsuki Ren," she introduced them to each other. Naruto offered the boy a warm smile. "Nice to meet you Hanatsuki-kun." Ren blushed again and mumbled "nice to meet you too," back. His beautiful chestnut eyes stared at the floor as if it was the most interesting thing in the world and his fingers toyed with a stray strand of hair. He was clearly embarrassed. Naruto couldn't help but be amazed at the boy's beauty. There was some magic in those chestnut eyes and in that heart-shaped face of his.

"Ok Naruto. These are Akagi Yuki and Oda Aki," Sakura introduced the other members of the club. The girl, Yuki, said nothing and only stared at him passively. She held some sort of fabric in her hands and was probably in the middle of sewing before she was interrupted. The boy, Aki, dropped the charcoal he was holding and stood up. He approached Naruto and leaned forward, his dark eyes narrowed, examining him carefully. Naruto felt uncomfortable. He wished the guy would stop staring at him. Aki did stop staring but proceeded to smile and it freaked him out even more. "Hello, Naruto-sempai!" he greeted him. "You're really hot, ya know?" he noted and laughed when Naruto scowled. "Don't worry, I'm not gay," he assured him. "I just love beautiful things," he explained to the confused Naruto, "That's why I love art-it is beautiful, don't ya think?" Naruto nodded, a small smile forming on his lips. Maybe, like Sakura told him, he'd be able to like them after all.

"So now that all introductions are done I can show you around," Sakura said happily and dragged Naruto by the arm. "Come, this room is like a museum!" she claimed and Naruto followed her. She showed him all the artworks the club members did and even some of her own works. There were charcoal drawings, oil paintings, incomplete sketching and all kinds of sculptures and engravings. Naruto examined the works and thought how great it has probably been to complete a masterpiece. _Someday,_ he thought, _I'll complete my own masterpiece_. A certain drawing caught his eyes and he stepped closer to look. A startled gasp almost escaped his lips because it was a drawing of "Sasuke…" he mumbled. It was Sasuke indeed, there was no mistaking, but the drawing was divided into two symmetrically halves. The right half was brighter, and despite being drawn with the same material, the shades were lighter, somehow happier. The left half, in contrast to the right one, was darker, sharper and very rough. He wondered why. Sakura stopped beside him and smiled. "You know Sasuke?" she was surprised. "Oh he's in your homeroom class, isn't he?" Naruto nodded and she smiled again. She picked up the drawing and ran a finger across it. "Why did you draw him like this?" Naruto asked, curious. Sakura gave him a soft smile before answering. "You might know the answer someday," she said mysteriously. Just then the door was opened and Sakura tugged his sleeve. Naruto turned around. The guy who entered ignored all of them completely and went to sit behind a small desk in the back of the room. Naruto's eyes widened upon seeing the guy. He looked so much like Sasuke! And yet he was completely different from Sasuke. His hair was clearly shorter than Sasuke's and just his attitude was completely different. _Why the hell am I even comparing him to Sasuke? I should stop thinking about him, really…_ he scolded himself. "That's Sai," Sakura whispered in his ear and Naruto looked at her, quite disbelieving. "He's the president?" he asked skeptically. Sakura nodded seriously. The guy was weird indeed. He acted as if they were not there and everyone else acted as if he wasn't either. What kind of president was that? And what kind of club was that? And also, Naruto couldn't help being amazed at the similarities between Sasuke and that guy, Sai. "He looks like-" he began and Sakura cut him off. "Sasuke?" she asked, knowingly. "Well, that's probably 'cause they're cousins," she said. Naruto nodded. That was logical. "So he's Uchiha?" he asked. Sakura nodded. "Of course he's an Uchiha!" she said. "Everything about him screams Uchiha! Geez, those idiots are all 'high-and-mighty' it's amazing!" but she wasn't angry. In fact Naruto heard affection in her voice when she said those things. _She's probably very close to them, to Sasuke_, he thought, a tint of jealousy stinging him. "Come," she suddenly said and dragged him again. "I'll introduce you to our dear President." And with that said Naruto found himself in front of the weird Uchiha, waiting for the guy to look up. "Sempai," Sakura said, making the guy look up. His eyes were two dark emotionless pools and Naruto could see even better the similarities between Sai and Sasuke. "Meet Uzumaki Naruto. He's a new member." Sai's eyes examined Naruto from head to toe and after several long seconds he finally smiled. Naruto cringed. _What kind of smile was that?_ It was so obvious that it was fake. It hurt a little to know that the guy's smile wasn't true but then again, Naruto somehow knew that it was not personal. _He probably doesn't even know how to smile truly_, he thought, not knowing how right he was. "It's very nice to have you in our club Naruto-kun. I hope you enjoy your days here," Sai said in a monotonic voice. "Yeah, thanks," Naruto smiled nervously. Sai was completely back into his work, ignoring them again. Sakura gave him a small awkward smile.

"You'll get used to him," she said when they finally left. "Most of the time you won't even notice he's there 'cause he never interferes with us. He keeps to himself and we keep to ourselves, that's how it's been going since he became the President."

"Then, how did he become the President? I mean, shouldn't a president be more social? I don't know… a bit more…friendly? He is the president after all," Naruto asked with great confusion. Sakura laughed at that. "Indeed," she said, "But Sai isn't your usual guy, as you saw. He became the president because he's a genius painter and besides, he does fulfill his duties as a president in his weird way. We can't have everything we want so we manage with what we have."

Gaara and Ten-Ten were already waiting at the gates when they went out of the building. Ten-Ten waved at them and Naruto returned the wave.

"Sakura-san, these are my brother and sister, Gaara and Te-Ten," he introduced them. "Guys, meet Haruno Sakura, she the vice president of the art club." Gaara nodded and Ten-Ten greeted the other girl happily. "So Sakura-san, you're going to be an artist when you grow up?" she asked the older girl. "No," Sakura answered truthfully.

"No?!" Naruto repeated. "But you're in the art club and you're amazing!" Sakura blushed a little. "Yes but it's only a hobby I'm focusing on while being in high school," she said.

"Then what do you want to be?"

"I want to be a doctor, just like the famous doctor Tsunade, and help people."

Naruto, Ten-Ten and Gaara stared at each other for a long moment before Ten-Ten burst out in laughter. Sakura was utterly oblivious as to why wanting to be a doctor was funny. Naruto sensed that she was uneasy so he quickly calmed her down. "Don't mind Ten-Ten," he said and sent a glare toward his sister. "She's only laughing because of the coincidence." Sakura looked at him, puzzled. "Coincidence?" she asked, looking from Naruto to Ten-Ten and back to Naruto. He nodded and smiled. "Yup, the coincidence. Tsunade is our mother," he explained and was pleased to see the understanding dawning on Sakura's face. "Oh…" was all she managed to say before blushing deeply. Ten-Ten let out a giggle and took Sakura's hand. "You want to become a doctor like our mother?" she asked. Sakura gave her an embarrassed smile. "She's a great doctor…" she mumbled, her cheeks burning.

"Hey! Tell you what," Naruto suddenly said and his eyes sparkled in excitement. "Why don't you come to our house? You can meet our mother!"

"That's a good idea!" Ten-Ten added, all too excited.

"I don't know…" Sakura said, hesitant. "I don't want to bother you all…"

"Bullshit! Come on, it's your dream, right?"

And as the bus arrived Sakura thought if it was indeed a good idea to agree. Oh well, who cares? She was going to meet her idol so it was worth everything!

.o.O.O.o.

The 3rd chapter is here, finally! (indeed). I know it took me long but you've got to understand me. After a long wait I finally received the recruiting letter from the Army. Something went wrong and instead of receiving it at the age of 17 I received it one year later. Oh well, at least I got it now! Anyway, I know it's not the best chapter but please bear with me!


	4. Lost For Words

_Hi once again!!! Here is the 4__th__ chapter. I hope you'll find it nice and enjoyable! Also I hope you didn't give up on it yet, I'm not going to abandon this story (I don't do that kind of things) 'cause I like my stories too much despite the fact that they are not very good and the fact that my grammar is so poor…_

_Chapter 4-Lost For Words_

.o.O.O.o.

There was still something exciting about not going to school even if he was already a high-school student. Like an elementary school kid he still felt some sort of happiness whenever he didn't have to go to school and this day was no different. However, the sun shone bright above his head and he somehow thought that it wasn't right. This day, the sun should be hiding behind heavy grey clouds. But, of course, the weather was not for him to decide and so he made his way up the road, walking slowly, not rushing anywhere, and letting the sun shine as it pleased. _Whatever_, he thought, _having the sun warm me is quite nice_. The road he was taking was narrow, only wide enough for two men, and nice. On each side of it flowers bloomed and the grass wavered in the light breeze. His footsteps were steady, measured, as if he didn't want to stray away from the gravel road. His unbuttoned shirt let the nice breeze penetrate inside and cool his body and he kicked a nearby rock absent mindedly. After several minutes he finally reached his destination and a heavy sigh escaped his lips. As he walked, he paid no mind to the dozens of gravestones that surrounded him and slowly reached the ones he was looking for. Some sort of serenity flooded him and he managed a small smile. These people… he sat down on the ground, in front of the two gravestones that lay side by side, and looked at the names engraved on them.

**Uchiha Fugaku- Was a great father and husband. Rest in Peace.**

**Uchiha Mikoto- Was a wonderful mother and wife. Rest in Peace.**

_I hope you rest in peace,_ he thought and his finger brushed the cold stone of his mother's grave. Mother… mothers are amazing creatures. They give birth to their children; they take care of them and take care of their husbands. They take care of the entire family and do all the chores and you can even talk to them and they would give you wise advices and never fail you. But the most important thing is that they love you no matter what. He smiled again at the memory of his mother. She really loved him and he loved her so dearly. His brother always teased him about how he was such 'mommy's little baby'. How angry he was whenever his brother called him that! He used to shout and yell and then burst out in tears for being called 'mommy's little baby'. But as he sat there, in front of his parents' graves, he had to admit to himself that he was indeed 'mommy's little baby'. He loved his mother and spent all his time with her. He followed her wherever she went and wished to be with her all the time. He loved it when she held him and hugged him and told him stories of ancient warriors and horrible monsters. He loved it when she washed his body after a long day of playing outside and loved it when she cuddled with him and kissed his forehead and called him her little baby. It was different from when his brother called him that because whenever his mother called him 'my little baby' he could hear and feel that she loved him and cared for him. Whenever he felt sad or angry he always went to his mother and she always comforted him with kind words and hugs. His brother called him 'cry baby' but he didn't mind too much as long as he got hugs and kisses from his mother. But all that was long gone. How many years has it been since then? Five years… He could still remember his shock, his disbelief and then the painful realization that there was no more 'mommy's little baby' because there was no more 'mommy', and no more dad… They were taken away from him by the storm, by the highroad, by the rain… taken away by the truck that crossed in red light. It was an awful night and he remembered how he screamed and how he wanted to go look for them, in the rain, in the storm… and if his brother hadn't stopped him he probably would have gone out and done that. He didn't want to believe it but reality penetrated through the fingers that covered his face and he knew that they were gone, forever.

After that night came long, empty days and lonely, scary nights. So many times he dreamed that his mother was standing next to his bed only to wake up and find out that no one was in the room beside himself. So many days he spent crying and mourning over his dead parents only to feel lonelier than ever. He sank into a deep depression and he lost all will to live. Also, because of the trauma, he suffered from some sort of amnesia, which made him forget random things and occurrences from his past. Fortunately, his brother was always there for him, surprisingly caring and supportive. Thanks to him he was able to get over the tragedy and move on with his life. Though, it wasn't as easy as it may seem. He remembered how reluctant and unwilling he was to cooperate with his brother's tries to help him. He shut himself from the world and let despair overtake him. But his brother kept trying and finally he broke down and gave up. He decided to live again. The process of becoming alive again was painful and burning, like a blinding sunray that entered a dark room and blinded the man inside, who was in the darkness for too long that his eyes found it difficult to adjust to the light. But he adjusted to the light nevertheless and he was alive again.

_I am alive again mother,_ he smiled at the gravestones and touched them. Ever since he got over their deaths he would come to visit their graves every year. And today was the day they died. He sighed again, feeling that it was time to leave. "See you next year…" he whispered to the cold gravestones with a last smile and then left. There were a lot of things he had to do, and the fact that he didn't go to school didn't mean that he didn't have school work to do. As student council president he had a lot of matters to take care of. And so, with that thought on his mind, he got into his car and drove off.

XXXXXX

Sakura stared at the big house in front of her and gulped. Of course, there was no need to worry, but still, she was going to meet her idol, the person whom she wanted to be alike. A palm was put on her shoulder and she turned to face the smiling face of Naruto. "Don't worry," He tried to calm her down. "She won't bite you! I hope…" At the sight of Sakura's horrified expression Ten-Ten burst out in laughter and even Gaara's lips twitched slightly. "I'm kidding," Naruto said. "She really won't bite you. She's not very scary as people think." If that was supposed to relax her, well it didn't. "C'mon," Naruto said and they all entered through the large wooden doors.

Sakura stared around her in awe. It wasn't because the house was fancy-she was used to fancy after all-or because everything seemed so big. Being the daughter of two rich parents she was used to rich and expensiveness. But Naruto's house was decorated and designed so differently from the other fabulous houses around in Konoha. Everything about it was calmer, simple and modest and yet it held such beauty and grace that she could only stare, speechless. Also, it had a different aura surrounding it, the aura of people who weren't born in Konoha or in the Fire country.

"Your house is beautiful," she commented, looking around her.

"Temari designed the interior," Naruto explained, "She wanted it to resemble the houses in Wave."

"Temari?"

"Oh, I forgot. She's our older sister." Sakura nodded to this and let Naruto lead her to the living room. It was large and bright and the nice breeze from outside entered through two open, large glass doors. Someone was asleep on one of the large cream-colored sofas. Ten-Ten smiled mischievously and silently stepped closer to that person. She winked at Sakura and then yelled into the guy's ear: "Wake up Kankuro!!!" Kankuro jumped as if he's been struck by a lightning and his head spun around, searching for the one who disturbed him. Meanwhile Ten-Ten was quick to disappear from the crime scene but apparently Kankuro knew all too well who disturbed his sleep. "Where is she?" he asked furiously and glared at Naruto and Sakura with red eyes. Sakura swallowed but Naruto only shrugged. "Upstairs, I guess," he said. Kankuro shot up and went to hunt his prey.

"Would you like to drink something?" Naruto asked, putting down his schoolbag. "Yes please," Sakura answered. Naruto went to bring her some cold juice and when he came back Sakura asked: "Are they always like that?" he was confused at first of whom she was talking about but then she gestured upstairs with her head and he smiled. "Not always," he said, "Ten-Ten is just too hyper and sometimes she runs out of ideas on what to spend all that energy she's got," he laughed a little. "And Kankuro, well I guess he's a bit moody. Not as moody as his brother is, but still."

Five minutes later they could hear music playing in full volume and Ten-Ten rushed down the stairs. She got rid of her school uniform and was dressed in a bright mini-skirt and a baggy white T shirt. "I'm going out!" she announced and before anyone could even say something she was gone. The music kept on playing and Sakura wondered: "Who's listening to hard rock?" Naruto rolled his eyes. "Gaara," he said. "Mom will be back soon," he said. Sakura nodded and Naruto turned on the TV. There was a show about celebrities and celebrity wannabes and he was about to turn it off again when Sakura stopped him. "Wait!" she called and he froze. Sakura narrowed her eyes, examining the small figures on the screen and then suddenly gasped. Naruto, wanting to know what she saw, looked at the screen but still didn't see anything special. Only a bunch of teenagers, probably rock stars wannabes. "I can't believe it…" he heard Sakura mumble and he frowned. "What is it?" Sakura pointed at some guy and Naruto leaned forward to get a better look. And then he gasped and looked surprised. _Looked_ being the keyword. "I have no idea who the guy is," he told her dryly. Sakura sighed and pointed at some words behind the guy he thought she was pointing at. There was a large dark signboard behind the guy and on it, in big white letters, these words were written: **ROCK N' ROLL DAY**. Naruto stared, still not getting it. "So…?" Sakura gave another sigh. "So it's my chance!" she cried enthusiastically. "Huh?!" Naruto backed away a few steps. "Sakura I thought you wanted to become a doctor!" he said, feeling utterly confused. Sakura smirked. "I do," she said with a low voice, "But it doesn't mean I can't become a rock star doctor!" and with that she threw her fist to the air and laughed triumphantly. Naruto stared at her, not quite sure if he was supposed to believe her or not. Sakura laughed again and punched his arm lightly. "I was kidding!" she assured him and Naruto couldn't stop the sigh of relief that escaped his mouth. Sakura had a horrible sense of humor.

"So why do you think it's your chance?" he asked after calming down. Sakura nodded and sat down on the floor, folding her legs beneath her. "The Rock N' Roll Day is something like tradition in Konoha. It's a contest that is held once a year and in which you can show your talents in singing, playing instruments and stuff like that. And there are prizes," she paused for a moment and then continued, "But the prize that is most important is that you get a chance to meet any celebrity you'd like! Well, most important to me at least."

"Why is it so important? Who do you want to meet?" Naruto was curious. At first he thought Sakura was a nerd (a very beautiful one) that school and getting smarter was all she cared about. But he was proven wrong when he listened to her babbling about some celebrity she wanted to meet. _But_, he thought, _isn't it quite expected? She was rich, she was beautiful and she was always surrounded by people like her. Of course she would share some similarities to them. And she is a girl_, he added to himself, _and girls always find some weirdo to love and idolize_.

"I want to meet…the Akatsuki!!!" she said and grinned. Naruto blinked. Sakura was definitely full of surprises. Akatsuki wasn't a band he would've expected her to love. Well, he thought she would name some pop girls' band but not Akatsuki. Really, Akatsuki was hard rock, _Gaara_ loved Akatsuki. And Sakura… well with her clothing style and personality he never imagined. "You don't look like someone who listens to Akatsuki," he commented and she laughed a little. "Yeah, I know," she said. "I get that a lot. But I'm actually a huge fan of them."

"You can be Gaara's friend," he said with a smile. They talked for the next fifteen minutes and then Temari came back home. Her hair was left loose on her back and she held some large bags in her hands. "Hey Naruto," she said when she entered through the front doors. "Will you help me with these?" in an instant, Naruto was by her side helping her carry her bags. "What are these?" he asked, peeping inside one of the bags. "Fabrics," she answered shortly and told him to put the bags in her room. They came back down after a few minutes and Naruto introduced Sakura to Temari.

"Temari, meet Haruno Sakura. She's my friend."

"Haruno? Are you related to Haruno Kaede?" Temari sounded excited.

"Yes, she is my aunt."

Temari was utterly happy hearing that. Naruto could swear he saw sparkles in her eyes when she shook Sakura's hand and introduced herself. "Your aunt is the best boss I could ever ask for!" she said and her smile was so wide Naruto wondered how it didn't reach her ears.

"You work for my aunt?" Sakura was surprised. "That's surprising. You must be very good and creative if she let you 'cause I know she's damn picky when it comes to her 'art'." Temari blushed a little at the hidden complement and said: "Well she should. She's amazing and her designs are magnificent!" Temari sat down beside Sakura and the two sank into a deep conversation about clothes and fabrics and other things Naruto didn't understand so he told Sakura he'd be up in his room and that when she wanted to she could come. She nodded and turned back to resume her conversation with Temari. _Girls…_he thought while climbing the stairs, _they always find interest in such uninteresting things_. He opened the door to his room and quickly went to lie on his bed. It was so nice to take a break from everything after a long tiring day. He smiled softly to himself and took a deep breath. He glanced to the side and saw that that the sun was already setting, painting the sky with fiery crimson and gold and soft violet. A bird crossed the sky and made him want to fly too. Wouldn't it be great if he could fly? He'd spread his wings and soar high, cross through clouds and chase hawks. Sasuke told him once that if he could he would chase hawks. Because, he said, hawks were the fastest of all birds and they could surprise you by suddenly diving down from the sky, meaning they were the best opponents. _Sasuke…he was absent today, I wonder why…_Naruto shook his head when he realized he was thinking about Sasuke again. _But I can't stop my thoughts! They come and go on their own accord! And Sasuke was absent today and I can't help wondering why! _He knew exactly what Gaara would've said to that: "You're doing it again Naruto…!" well, he couldn't help it so there was no point fighting it. _But I must if I don't want to get hurt again. And why doesn't Sasuke remember me?_ It was odd indeed. Surely, that summer they shared together so long ago meant something to him, even if a little, right? It can't be that he simply forgot everything, right? After kissing him like that, on that summer, Naruto thought that Sasuke would at least show some recognition. _I'm sure he's got a reason…_he thought, _Even back then Sasuke always had reasons…he's just that type of a guy_. And after thinking a little more Naruto came to a decision: he will know Sasuke's reasons. He will find out why Sasuke forgot him (and if he truly did or was just pretending). He knew all too well that Gaara would be furious if he heard of this but he just had to. That uneasy feeling inside of him was too hard to ignore. He will have his answers. He will.

XXXXXX

Naruto stared at the numbers in front of him and bit his lower lip, a habit he had when thinking or concentrating. The given problem wasn't that difficult to solve but still, he wanted to go over it so he won't have problems in it in the future. Of course, everyone else already left for lunch and Gaara and Ten-Ten were probably waiting for him to arrive too. Well, maybe not Ten-Ten because she will surely sit with her new friends. He had no idea why she preferred to befriend boys instead of girls but he didn't ponder over it too much. If she felt more comfortable with guys then there was nothing he could do nor did he want to. Besides, she was a tom-boy after all. Really, what kind of girl beat a guy?

"You need help?" someone at his side said and Naruto, too lost in thought to wonder who, shook his head. "No, I just need to-what?" he looked up and almost fell off of his chair. Sasuke offered him an amused smirk and took the liberty to sit in front of Naruto's desk. Naruto swallowed. Sasuke leaned on the back of the chair and examined Naruto's notebook. "Analytical Geometry hm? You're pretty good at this, aren't you?" he asked and looked up to meet Naruto's eyes. Naruto nodded but didn't answer. What did Sasuke want? He wished he would leave soon although… he had a wonderful opportunity! Maybe he should act now…

"What an honor, student council President," he said and Sasuke raised one delicate brow. "I came to pick you up," he informed the blonde who looked confused. "You said you'd sit with me and my friends," Sasuke reminded him and Naruto got up. He began packing his things without a word. Sasuke frowned and got up too.

"Fine," Naruto said after a moment of silence. Sasuke smiled. "Good," he said. "Come on."

Naruto felt awkward walking into the cafeteria hall accompanied by Sasuke. He could tell that almost everyone in the hall stared at them and he lowered his gaze. He saw Gaara staring at him impassively and Ten-Ten with an open mouth. He walked toward Gaara and received a questioning look from Sasuke. "He's my brother," Naruto explained. Gaara said nothing and just ate his food without a word.

"Gaara," Naruto called his name. He didn't look up. "I want you to come sit with me and Sasuke."

"With _you and Sasuke_?" Gaara sneered, still not looking at his brother. "Oh please, I think I'll pass the embarrassing lovey-dovey scene." Naruto blushed furiously and mentally cursed Gaara for saying those words in front of Sasuke.

"It's ok," Sasuke suddenly said and Naruto thought he was referring to Gaara's words. "We can sit here if you want." Naruto sighed in relief and glared at his brother before leaving to take a tray. When he came back the table was already half full with Sasuke's close friends and Naruto had to fight a smile when he saw Gaara's displeased look. Gaara anti-social, sure, but those who surrounded him at the moment were somehow related to the bastard and he didn't like it at all. Naruto wasn't too surprised to see Sakura sitting next to Sasuke and talking to him. There was also a pale eyed boy with long brunette hair who sat at Sasuke's right and for some unknown reason stared at Gaara as if he was hypnotized. Next to the pale eyed boy sat a girl, who looked like a feminine version of him but with shorter and darker hair. Her cheeks were dusted with red and she kept fidgeting uncomfortably. Naruto took a seat next to Gaara and gave them all a nervous smile. Sakura smiled back at him and said: "Naruto there will be club activity tomorrow after school, so don't miss it ok?" Naruto nodded and she gave him another smile before diving down to her food.

"What, you know each other?" Sasuke asked, confused. Sakura growled something and Naruto confirmed. "Yeah, she's my senpai. I joined the art-club." Sasuke nodded and proceeded to the introductions.

"Naruto, Gaara-kun, these are my friends: Hyuuga Neji and Hyuuga Hinata."

"Pleased to meet you Naruto-kun, Gaara-kun," the two Hyuugas said politely and Naruto wondered if they were from some very rich family. _Well sure they are baka! This damn school is for rich kids, duh…_ he told himself. The minutes that followed after were awkwardly silent. Naruto ate his food and tried to ignore Gaara's deadly aura and Sasuke's curious gaze on him at the same time. He knew that Gaara was worried for him but he really had to stop with that. Naruto sometimes felt like a kid who couldn't take care of himself. _You're exaggerating_; he scolded himself, _Gaara's worried for a good reason. You can't be angry at him for caring about you and wanting you to be happy. _Naruto swallowed.

"Are you ok?" he looked up to meet Sasuke's concerned look. He nodded and smiled faintly. "You were absent yesterday," he noted. It seemed that time itself stopped moving. Sakura, Neji and Hinata stared at them wide-eyed and Naruto just knew that he had just said something bad. Sasuke's eyes seemed to darken and he said: "That's pretty much none of your business." His voice was calm and restrained but there was something he held back, maybe anger. Naruto could only stare at him, not knowing what to do or what to say. Something hurt inside of him but he ignored the feeling and he toyed with his fork awkwardly. That was when Gaara stood up, face as impassive as ever, and glared at Naruto. "I told you, idiot. What were you expecting to get by doing all this? Don't come to me crying like a baby because I won't be able to help you." His harsh words seemed to make everyone wonder what Gaara was talking about and made Sasuke realize that maybe he had hurt Naruto's feelings. He wished to apologize but then Gaara left the table and Naruto just sat there, looking completely lost with his gaze fixed somewhere on the floor. Sasuke had no idea what to say. He was lost for words and he cursed himself for that because a moment later Naruto also stood up and gave them an apologetic look, that clearly was trying to cover up his hurt, and said he had to leave. Sasuke wanted to follow but his pride glued his butt to the chair and his legs to the floor.

"What was that all about?" Came Neji's voice from his side.

"You just had to talk to him like that! Way to go Sasuke!" Sakura said sarcastically. "Geez, stop doing things you know you'll regret!" Sasuke said nothing after that. What could he say? He knew she was right and he could only blame himself for this. He had to apologize before it was too late. _Why am I even bothering? Why do I even care? I don't even know him!_ He had no answer.

XXXXXX

"Gaara wait!" Naruto hurried after his brother into the long hallway and gripped Gaara's shoulder. Gaara turned around sharply. His eyes burned with anger and Naruto gulped. "Gaara, don't be like that," he requested softly. "Please don't be mad at me…"

"What do you want me to do then? I'm trying to help you! I told you not to get close to that damn Uchiha and you still did! If you get hurt that's your own fault. I told you not to come back to me for help. I'm tired of this." Gaara almost growled. He was so angry! All those years and Naruto still had hope! How could he? How could he still hope for Sasuke's love after what the boy did to him? Gaara didn't want to even try to understand Sasuke's reasons because he was too mad at him. But that was exactly the difference between him and Naruto; Naruto was always forgiving and he wasn't. Damn all the reasons!

"I know, I know!" Naruto said, almost desperate. "But I want answers Gaara! I want to know why! I want to know why he completely forgot about me! I don't want to go on living my life knowing that I had the chance to know why but I never took it! I can't live on like this, with this unbearable feeling inside me! And he can hurt me as much as he wants, he can curse me and wish for me to die but I will have my answers! I am ready to let him hurt me again, break me again as long as I get to understand. I want to take the risk, why don't you?"

"Why don't I?" Gaara repeated, as if not believing his own ears. "You ask why I don't want you to take the risk?! How can you be so stupid? So…innocent? You want answers? Fine I'll give you your answers: there's nothing to hope for. He doesn't even remember you how can you expect him to love you? He doesn't remember you, he doesn't mind hurting you, you heard how he talked to you, and he doesn't love you. There, happy? You got your answers!" Gaara immediately regretted his words when Naruto asked him, barely audible: "Is that what you really think…?" his voice… although he was trying very hard not to show it, it was so hurtful, painful to listen to. It was obvious Naruto was fighting back the tears that threatened to fall down and Gaara had to admit he was doing a god job. But somehow, Naruto's tough expression did little to make him feel better. _I'm so stupid!_ He cursed himself. He reached out to his brother and pulled him into a hug. He was so sorry for what he said that all words left his mouth. He was unable to express himself with mere words so he held his brother tight and buried his face in the space between his neck and shoulder. Slowly, Naruto hugged him back, gentle and loving as always.

"S'alright…" he whispered, "I forgive you."

XXXXXX

Sasuke held his breath. If they heard him it would be very difficult to explain himself. His mind was storming and he didn't know how to react to what he had just heard. Did he even hear right? It was all too unreal, too weird. He had so many questions but he had no idea which he should ask first. What was he to do? What should he say? He wanted to do something, maybe run and run forever but he couldn't, because aside from everything else he was curious and in a way, one could say that he wanted some answers too. Like the answer to why he was feeling so happy upon seeing Naruto or being near him, or to why he had the need to be with him and know more about him. Yes, confusing, but he could bear with it. He was patient and he knew that eventually he'll get his answers whether he wanted them or not because Naruto seemed determined about having his own answers.

.o.O.O.o.

Chapter 4 is finally done! Sorry for the long delay. I hope you enjoyed it and haven't given up yet!!!


	5. Interaction Project

_Hello!!!_

_I am utterly sorry for the long delay-I started writing this chapter right after I updated the last one but I didn't like what I wrote so I rewrote everything and it turned out completely different than what I intended it to be. Though, I must say I like it this way better. Anyway I have an important announcement to make:_

**I will be starting to work at a hospital from the 1****st**** of September so I won't be able to update often. I am going to be beat from work so I apologize**_**.**_

_Anyway, here's chapter five:_

_Chapter 5-Interaction Project_

_.o.O.O.o._

Sasuke closed his eyes. _What should I do?_ The sound of students talking and laughing did little to help him and he mentally cursed. He was stuck now and he had to find a way out of the mess he was in. Naruto… Gaara said some things… did they mean that Naruto loved him? As in love-_love_? He didn't know what to think of what he heard. First of all… how could that be?! Naruto was talking as if they actually knew each other! But Sasuke was pretty sure he didn't meet Naruto before… did he? Well, he did suffer from amnesia… and secondly that was-he wasn't gay! Was he? "This is too frustrating!" he made his way back to the cafeteria hall, back to his friends.

"Well, did you do it?" he shook his head and gave her a glare. Sakura shook her pink head and sighed. "Really," she said, "sometimes I really don't get you."

Naruto didn't come back to lunch and Sasuke decided that it was for the better. After all, he still had to digest everything he heard.

That day was horrible from the beginning. First of all his brother called and announced that he'd come home. Well that was expected he guessed… the ROCK N' ROLL day was in two weeks and with them performing on that day… He was feeling distressed when his brother told him he'd come back. It's been nearly a year since his brother left and Sasuke had conflicting thoughts about his return. A part of him longed for it very much, part of him still wanted his brother near him, protecting and loving… but the other part of him loathed the idea and dreaded it. That part wanted freedom and independence and he couldn't get those with his brother always by his side. Just thinking about his brother made his head ache and the first thing he did when he got out of bed that morning was to take a painkiller and drown it with a lot of water. Then, when he arrived at school he found out that his damned friend Neji signed them both to some special project that only god knew what it was about (well, god and Neji) Sasuke kept his composure, though. He was good at keeping his composure. Always. But that didn't mean he didn't make Neji pay. He got his own little revenge by assigning _him_ to the sophomores' volunteer project and he was quite content when he watched Neji's reaction when he discovered it. After that Sasuke had to attend Advanced Math and that was when he saw Naruto. The blond boy was deep in thought when Sasuke entered the classroom and the sight made him somewhat joyful.

"Hello Uzumaki," he greeted the boy with a smile. Naruto blinked and then gave him a nervous smile. "Hello Sasuke-kun," he said back. Sasuke took a seat next to him and put down his schoolbag. He could feel Naruto's gaze on him. They didn't talk after that and Sasuke thanked god when the teacher arrived and class began. He was quite surprised to find Naruto in Advanced Math because the boy didn't appear to be so bright but Naruto apparently was. And also a nerd, probably. From the moment the teacher opened his mouth Naruto went silent and his eyes were glued to the teacher and the board behind him. It seemed that he was trying to listen very carefully, afraid to miss anything and excited about the things he learned. Now, Sasuke was quite the nerd himself but not like Naruto. Naruto was a nerd in a… nerdy way unlike Sasuke who was popular, handsome and adored by everyone. _Well, he is handsome too_… a thought sneaked into his mind and made him blush a little. _What the hell? I am so not gay! I'm just stating the obvious…!_

When class ended Sasuke decided that it was time for Naruto to accept his invitation.

"You need help?" he asked softly. Naruto seemed to be too deep in his work. "No, I just need to-what?" he was more than surprised to see Sasuke hovering over him. Sasuke offered him an amused smirk and seated himself in front of Naruto. "Analytical Geometry, hm? You're pretty good at this, aren't you?" he asked, slightly teasing the boy. For a moment Naruto looked like he wanted to run away but then his expression changed and he said: "What an honor, student Council president." The change in his tone made Sasuke wonder what caused it. Was it him? He didn't understand the blonde. "I came to pick you up," he announced and Naruto was, obviously, confused. "You said you'd sit with me and my friends," he explained. He had to admit that he wanted Naruto to accept the invitation and he had fear inside of him that Naruto might refuse again but Naruto didn't. He agreed. And when he reflected on it later, Sasuke came to conclusion that that was when things became worse.

"What's wrong Sasuke?" Sakura's voice pulled him back into reality. He shook his had and said it was nothing. She gave him a skeptic look but didn't push it any further and his was grateful for that.

The rest of the day Sasuke avoided Naruto, although Naruto himself didn't seem like he wanted to have a chit chat with Sasuke either. Whenever their eyes met they were quick to divert their gazes and both looked like they were holding something back. A question or an explanation. Sasuke still had an apology to make and Naruto had some serious questions to ask. But neither one of them made the first move. And so the day ended with them avoiding each other and their friends being very frustrated by their behavior.

XXXXXX

"Hey Sasuke, you're home!" Sasuke replied with a sarcastic: "Yeah, what a surprise…" and went upstairs to his room. He didn't feel like talking to the maid. His bed was inviting and comforting as usual and he let himself lie on it and relax, calm his senses. He had some homework to do but it could wait. He got up to turn on his computer and put on some of his favorite songs. Ironically, Akatsuki was his favorite band but he couldn't help it. They were too good to not like them. Forget Itachi, Akatsuki were awesome! Their music was captivating and enchanting; they had soft rock ballads and hard rock and the way they combined guitars with a piano and drums was somehow extraordinary. Sasuke's favorite member was definitely Akasuna Sasori, the pianist. He liked his playing and in his opinion he was the best. But of course the other members were amazing too. He liked them all except for the male vocalist. Whenever Sasuke thought about him he felt so angry that he wanted to scream and it was all because of his brother. If not for him Sasuke might be able to like that vocalist because his voice wasn't half bad actually. It was _his_ relation to Itachi that made Sasuke hate _him_ so much. In a way, it was _his_ fault that his brother left. Sasuke couldn't bring himself to like the guy. He just couldn't do it.

He rolled on his back and faced the window. The sky was a clear crimson, softly mixed with purple as the sun was setting. It could have been relaxing if not for the knocks on his bedroom door.

"What is it?" he asked, irritated. A maid entered and handed him the phone. "It's Itachi-sama," she said before leaving and closing the door behind her. Sasuke let out a deep sigh and held the phone close to his ear.

"Hello aniki," he greeted.

"Hey otouto," came Itachi's voice from the other side. "Was I interrupting something?"

"Not at all. Is there something you want from me?"

"Uh… not really. I just wanted to inform you that I rescheduled my flight and I'll be home by the day after tomorrow."

"That's great! Are you coming alone?"

"Actually Deidara will be coming with me. He says he wants to finally meet my precious little otouto," Itachi laughed softly and Sasuke clenched his fist.

"That's great. I am very excited to meet him too, in person."

"I will tell him. So how's it going with school?"

"Great. There are some new kids."

"Oh really? And how are they? Did you get to know them?"

"Kind of. They're from Wave and they're Tsunade's kids."

"Lady Tsunade? She's back in Konoha?!" Itachi sounded really surprised.

"Uh-huh, and she's the head of KMC now."

"Head of KMC? Well I guess that was expected. I heard her skills are like no other. Anyway, you're saying she has kids?"

"Uh-huh. I don't know how many exactly but I know three of them. Two boys and a girl. They're nothing alike, though."

"Probably adopted."

"But Naruto looks quite like her," Sasuke added.

"Maybe he's her real son. Anyway Sasuke I have to hang up."

"Your boyfriend?"

"Yeah… apparently it's my turn to cook dinner. See you soon Sasuke!"

"Bye aniki…"

Sasuke put his head on the pillow and let out a snort. _'Excited to meet him' my ass!_ _As if…damn Itachi!_ Why did he have to reschedule his flight? The day after tomorrow was too soon for his liking. He got up and changed his clothes to something more comfortable and went downstairs just in time to hear the doorbell ring. Giving another irritated sigh he ignored it and gestured for one of the maids to open it. While he went into the kitchen she went to open the door.

"Enjoying yourself?" Sasuke was about to pour some pomegranate juice into a glass when someone behind him talked. He didn't have to turn around to know who it was. He could always recognize Neji's voice, anywhere, anytime. Maybe because their voices were alike; they both held the same arrogance in them, he supposed.

"What are you doing here?" he asked without turning back.

"Remember that project I assigned us to?" Neji asked.

"How could I ever forget…?"

"Good, because it's due to this evening," Neji smirked and Sasuke finally turned around. "What kind of project is it anyway?" he asked, suspicion showing in his narrowed eyes. Neji explained: "Interaction Project. You can also call it Socializing Project or 'Being Friendly Project'!"

"And… will you please enlighten me with the details?" Sasuke asked impatiently. "It's simple," said Neji, "It was the seniors' idea. They came up with Interaction Project in order to help the sophomores adjust to the Academy and help them become integrated with other students."

"Then why did you assign us to this damned project?" Sasuke wanted to know.

"The thing is that the sophomores are not the only ones new in Leaf Academy, you know. So I asked the seniors if we could join their project only that we will be 'helping' the new kids in our grade. Get it?" Neji finished with a smirk.

"You don't mean…" Sasuke started. Neji nodded. "Uzumaki Naruto and Sabaku Gaara." Sasuke was lost for words. He couldn't believe it! What was Neji thinking? But then again, he could refuse and it wouldn't be too weird. Sasuke wasn't exactly the friendly type.

"I thought you liked Uzumaki-kun," Neji continued, "You never invite anyone to sit with us at lunch except for him."

"I don't believe you did this just because you care for my social life Hyuuga," Sasuke replied.

"Indeed. I merely want to meet the Sabaku. He intrigues me."

"From what I've seen, he's over-protective when it comes to his brother," Sasuke said, realization finally dawning on him "…and you know this, which means I am supposed to hold Naruto's attention so you'd be able to 'interact' with Sabaku-kun." Sasuke lifted a brow. "Very selfishly beautiful, Hyuuga." Neji smirked. "What can I say? You were a great teacher!" "Ha ha I am so flattered." Sasuke said dryly and left the kitchen. Neji followed him into his bedroom and Sasuke put on his converse. "Fine, then what are we supposed to do Hyuuga?" "We have a meeting with the two of them."

"Now where the hell would that be? I wonder…" Sasuke couldn't help the sarcasm.

"The mall."

XXXXXX

It was too awkward for Sasuke's liking. That idiot Neji… he felt like punching the soul out of that boy. First of all he assigns Sasuke to some weird project he never wished to participate in and then he comes to his house and says that they are going to spend some 'quality' time with the new kids and now this!

After that little conversation they had in Sasuke's kitchen, Neji took them both to Konoha mall-the largest and best mall in the city- to meet with Naruto and Gaara. That was how he ended up _alone_ with Naruto in one of the cafés around, since Neji took Gaara off to somewhere else where he could 'interact' with him without any disturbances. _This kind of feels like a date_… Sasuke couldn't help the thought. He was sitting with Naruto around a round table on tall chairs and drinking coffee at that moment. Well Sasuke drank coffee while Naruto settled on milkshake. Neither of them said anything and avoided looking at the other. Well, it was mostly Sasuke. He still felt uncomfortable about what he overheard and he had no idea what to do. Naruto loved him, or used to, and it was too confusing. He wasn't gay. Not at all. But he wondered why the situation he was in kept reminding him of the lovey-dovey scenes he'd seen in movies. Why did he agree to come? Surely it was no problem for him to refuse. _It was because of Naruto_… he remembered. He really didn't want to come but the promise of being able to see Naruto was what convinced him. The thought of being able to talk to him again, being near him again erased all thoughts of refusing. He never wanted to be with someone so much in his entire life. There was Itachi, of course, but with him it was different. It wasn't as strong as it was with Naruto and Sasuke had a hard time figuring out why.

"Umm…" Naruto tried to start a conversation without success. Sasuke decided to take that opportunity.

"Naruto, I want to apologize for what I said earlier today," he said, sounding calm and collected. His heart skipped a beat, though. Naruto's eyes snapped up to stare into his and slowly a smile formed on his lips. "It's ok, I already forgot about it," he said and Sasuke restrained a sigh of relief. "Is that so?" all was ok after all.

"So… what would you like do?" he asked. Naruto looked at him confused. "Eh?" "Since Neji's off somewhere with Gaara-kun and we're supposed to get to know each other why don't we do something instead of sitting here like two old geezers?" Naruto chuckled at that and got up. "Then, where shall we go?" he asked. Sasuke looked around him and then pointed to his left. "Over there," he said and led the way.

It was a record shop. Sasuke went inside and Naruto followed not far behind him. His eyes went wide when he looked around him and saw so many shelves with so many discs on them, organized by year, genre and artist. Sasuke immediately went over to some shelves that said 'Rock' on them. "You too?" Naruto asked in surprise when he saw the disc Sasuke picked up. It was Akatsuki's latest album-'Hanamori'. "You like them too?" Sasuke was also surprised. Naruto nodded with a smile. "Uh-huh, but my brother's a bigger fan than me. He's crazy about them! Who's your favorite member?" Sasuke was slightly taken aback by Naruto's question but he answered nevertheless. "Akasuna Sasori, probably," he said. Naruto laughed. "Really? I like Deidara the most. His voice is great!" Sasuke flinched at that but, luckily, Naruto didn't notice. "Aren't you going to buy something?" he asked. Naruto shook his head. "I want to visit a bookstore. Is it ok?" he asked. "Yeah." So they went to a nearby bookstore. Naruto was utterly happy to find a book called 'Tomorrow' and when Sasuke wanted to know why he said: "It's for my mother. She's been looking for this book for months!" when Naruto was done paying they left and Sasuke led them both to another café'. "I don't really like walking aimlessly," he explained when they took a seat near the window. A waitress came up to them and took their orders before leaving and came back again with their drinks. The silence that followed with her leave was awkward again. Sasuke tried not to look at Naruto but it was hard with the weird feeling inside of him and the voice in his head that kept telling him to steal glances at Naruto. If he weren't an Uchiha he would've probably been blushing like mad by then but he _was_ an Uchiha and his brother taught him that keeping cool and calm is always the best. Itachi never blushed so neither would Sasuke. The view outside the window suddenly seemed very interesting and Sasuke watched as a tiny plane crossed the dark skies.

"Umm Sasuke…?" he tilted his head and looked at Naruto. Seeing Naruto's expression Sasuke had a suspicion regarding to what Naruto wanted to say. "You really don't remember me, do you?" Naruto's voice was low and soft with a hint of hurt in it that Sasuke could easily identify. He said nothing. He didn't know what to say. Naruto sighed and rested his chin in his palm. "I thought so," he said, voice full of hurt he clearly tried to hide without much success. "I guess it's ok, a little disappointing, though." He offered Sasuke a smile. When Sasuke gave him a confused look he let out a chuckle. "You look really dumb right now," he commented and his smile got wider when Sasuke blushed and scowled. Sasuke still didn't say anything. "Want to hear my story?" Naruto suddenly asked. "No, that would be a bad idea. Forget it." Sasuke quickly said: "I want to hear it," before he could even stop himself. Naruto looked surprised. He didn't expect that at all. Then he smirked. "I don't want to tell you," he replied mischievously. Sasuke's eyes narrowed and he gave Naruto one of his best glares. Naruto wasn't even the slightest bit fazed by it, though. "You glared at me five years ago too," he told Sasuke, "And then we became friends." He laughed again when Sasuke put on another confused expression. "Maybe your glares are magical," he added in a softer tone. For a moment silence filled the space between them and Sasuke tried hard not to get up and run away. He wanted to hear the story. Was it that special? Was he really that important to Naruto?

"The truth is, I came here to find some answers," Naruto continued slowly. "You probably have no idea what I'm talking about and why I am acting so weird. Let me ask you, and please answer me honestly. Are you pretending? Or do you really not remember me?" Naruto's eyes burned into his own and Sasuke felt like he was being pulled towards the other boy by some unknown force. "I'm sorry," was all he could say, "I am not pretending." To his surprise he could see relief showing in Naruto's blue eyes. "I guess forgetting is better than pretending," he said and sighed once again. "Then, let's just forget about this, ok? Let's forget I even asked you that question."

"That would be pretending." Sasuke said without thinking. Naruto's eyes widened. "You're pretty stupid, aren't you?" he continued mercilessly. Naruto swallowed. Something stung in his eyes. Tears? He wouldn't let them. "If there is something you want to say, say it. I don't like people who always hesitate, who don't act because of their own cowardice. It's useless just to want." He didn't know why he was being so cruel but he couldn't stop himself. Something made him angry. What was it? He couldn't remember…_'then let's just forget this…'_ oh that's right. Naruto wanted to forget. That was what made him so angry. "You ask if I remember you and then you tell me to forget it. It seems like you have nothing better to do than to play with people's feelings and minds. Maybe it is for the best that I've forgotten you."

It seemed like everyone around them stopped moving and the silence was too loud to listen to. It was painful and he couldn't help it.

"Yes, I guess I am stupid. And yes, maybe it's for the best that you forgot about me. But you see, I can't back away now. I told my brother I can take any insult and any hit from you, and I mean it." Sasuke stared at him with disbelief but Naruto wasn't finished. "You said you wanted to hear my story, right? Let's make a deal then." Sasuke waited. "In exchange for your own story I'll tell you mine. What do you say?" Sasuke said nothing. Naruto recovered pretty fast and that was what amazed him-his will power. Of course, he knew about what Naruto told Gaara but he didn't think Naruto actually meant it. Now that he found out he did, Sasuke couldn't find back his tongue. "Well?" Naruto urged him. "What makes you think I still want to hear it?" He finally asked coldly. Naruto shrugged "then forget about this day and pretend that you don't know me," he said simply, though Sasuke could tell that he was holding back his tears. Maybe even rage. Sasuke clenched his fists. "What do you want to know?" he asked. _I will not forget nor would I pretend!_ Naruto instantly looked up. "Huh?" Sasuke sighed. "You said you'd tell me your story in exchange for mine. What do you want to know?" for a moment Naruto just stared at him like he was a talking cow but he quickly regained his composure. "Why did you forget me?" he asked.

"I don't know," Sasuke replied. It was the truth. "I don't remember you, you expect me to remember why?"

"Ok then, what happened to you five years ago?" Naruto went on. Maybe if he delved into Sasuke's life he would be able to find the answer.

Sasuke looked into Naruto's blue eyes. _Here it comes_ he thought. It was for the better, he supposed. It was about time he did this anyway. Why not tell him? _Because you're afraid_ told him the voice in his head. _You're afraid to lose what you gained. You're afraid to lose yourself._ _I guess I am afraid…_he thought. _But Naruto is willing to listen to me and if he does that, I think I'll be able to stay Sasuke._ So he told Naruto his story.

XXXXXX

Gaara sent glares at the back of the other boy the whole way to the small remote café. He had no idea what that boy was planning but whatever it was, he didn't like it. Neji seemed to be unaware of Gaara's glares and he calmly led the way inside to a remote table at one of the café's corners. He took a seat and Gaara followed.

"What do you want?" Gaara spat at the other boy. Neji was slightly startled by that but he immediately smiled. Or rather smirked. "I am 'interacting with you Gaara-kun," he said smugly. "Then buy me something to drink," Gaara demanded. Again, Neji was surprised by Gaara's foul attitude but did as he was told nevertheless.

"You are indeed very unfriendly," Neji commented when the waitress came back with their orders. He nodded to her and she left. "I never said I'm not," Gaara replied, taking his drink. That made Neji smirk again and Gaara barrowed his eyes. "You're weird," he informed the pale-eyed boy. "I could say the same about you," said Neji and gave the other boy a sharp look. "I don't get you." To that, Gaara snorted. "Wow I already feel special," he said sarcastically. Neji smirked, "you should," he told Gaara, "I always know people's personalities."

"Aren't you modest…" Gaara commented dryly before taking another sip from his drink. "But you don't get mine, do you?" he went on and devilish smirk crept on his face. Neji looked at him with pale eyes. To Gaara, the boy seemed like he was ready to attack, like a cat ready to bounce on a mouse. Only Gaara wasn't a mouse. He was far worse than a mouse or a cat.

"You want to know why?" he asked but Neji only looked at him. "It's because I'm a predator different than the ones you've met. I am not bound by rules and I don't give a shit about the prey. It's like playing Resident Evil-you have to kill as many zombies as you can." Neji swallowed. _Definitely unfriendly_ he thought. "So are you indicating that I am one of the zombies?" he asked calmly. Gaara shrugged, "I don't care what you are," he told the surprised Neji.

"But you care when it comes to Uzumaki-kun." Neji didn't know where he found the guts to say something like that but it did what he wanted-it made Gaara really look at him. Though, it might not have been the best idea by the judge of Gaara's eyes. They were very dark. Very, very dark. But to Neji's surprise, Gaara didn't yell at him nor did something of the sort. He just looked very dark… and scary. But then, just as quickly as it came, the dark aura evaporated and Gaara averted his gaze elsewhere.

"My brother is very special," Gaara said after a moment, "and he is even a greater predator than me. At times I am shitless scared of him and at other times he's like a lost puppy that I can't leave alone. Most of the times he's dumb, though." Gaara chuckled to himself. Neji couldn't quite believe Gaara's words. "Uzumaki-kun, a predator? You're kidding me, right?" Gaara shot him another glare and Neji swallowed but he continued: "Is that why he is special to you?" he wanted to know and he couldn't control the tone of his voice. He himself knew that it was slightly shaken. "Because he's a greater predator than you are?! Because you can't beat him and you feel intimidated by him? Is it?" Gaara's eyes examined him indifferently and for once in his life Neji had a slight idea of how people felt when Uchiha Sasuke looked at them with those dark, cold and indifferent eyes of his. He didn't like the feeling at all.

"I would never beat Naruto even if I could and had a reason to," Gaara said coldly and surprised Neji.

"Why?"

"Would you beat your own brother?!" Gaara wanted to know and it made Neji realize that he hadn't seen Gaara as a person. In his mind, Gaara was something else, different than everybody else. Never did he think of Gaara having ethics and principles.

"So you do hold some ethics," he said, rather contently.

"Only when they concern my brother."

"Then why would you beat anyone else but not your brother, even if you had a reason to?"

"Because I owe him my life."

Neji stared at the boy in front of him, not knowing what to think or what to say. _Owe him his life? What exactly happened? _It wasn't possible that Uzumaki-kun beat someone in order to save Gaara, was it? Really, Uzumaki-kun was soft and gentle… he was a kind person from what Gaara had seen in the short time the boy was in school. _And I kind of feel sorry for him for flaring Sasuke's interest…_but Gaara did say something about Uzumaki-kun being the greater predator… was he just mocking Neji?

"Don't think about it too hard, pretty face," Gaara said and offered him a smirk. "My relationship with my brother is none of your business."

"I don't get you," Neji said once again, looking into Gaara's emerald eyes. "You're rude and impolite; you are absolutely not friendly and anti-social. You tell me you don't give a shit about people but you hold ethics when they concern your brother. You mock me with your stupid answers and yet you tell me none of this is my concern." Neji was slightly panting when he stopped. Gaara looked at him with the same cold eyes but there was something else in them, something new. Neji shivered under his gaze and at the same time felt feverish. "If I save your life, would you love me as much as you love your brother?"

.o.O.O.o.

Again, I am very sorry for the delay and I want to remind you again that from now on I will be updating even more slowly than ever because from the September the 1st I'll be starting work at the hospital and it's going to be very busy! So, sorry for that. It absolutely does not mean that I won't update! It merely means that I won't have too much free time to write the next chapters. I hope this chapter made up for the long delay!

-HairoM


	6. True Lies

_Hi there! Here is the sixth chapter! I can't believe how long it took me to update, but you know working at a hospital __**IS**__ demanding and not to mention my studies are tiring me, like hell1 _

_But I finally found the time to finish this chapter and update. I quite love the way things turned out in this chapter, I hope you'll share this with me._

_Chapter 6-True Lies_

.o.O.O.o.

"Mom, you will wait for me, right?" asked the dark haired boy. He held the phone close to his ear and swallowed.

"Of course I will Sasu-chan," his mother answered from the other side. "You will only have to wait until tonight and then you'll be home."

"But you will wait for me, right?" he asked again, needing to hear her answer again.

"I will Sasuke," she promised, "and I will bake you your favorite cookies and I will send Itachi to go buy pomegranates juice, just what you like."

Sasuke swallowed again. He missed his mother so much! For four long weeks he hadn't seen his mother and it was too much. He knew his brother was going to tease him endlessly about it when he gets back home, but at the moment he couldn't care less. All he wanted was to see his mother again and hug her like he always did when he came home from school.

"I miss you mommy…" he whispered in a trembling voice, "I want to go home now…"

"I know baby, I know. But you can wait just a little longer, ne Sasuke? You can do it, right?"

"Yes…" he whispered.

"You are my hero Sasuke and I'm very proud of you for being so brave."

Suddenly he couldn't see clearly and he realized that he was crying. He sniffed and wiped his eyes with his sleeve.

"I love you mom," he told her. He was trembling again and he couldn't help it. He felt a great fear in his heart, like something terrible was going to happen and he couldn't prevent it, like when he went back home his mother wouldn't be there. He needed to tell her that he loved her, that he loved her so much. "I love you very, very much mommy and I don't want you to leave," he said without being able to know why. There was a short silence on the other side of the line but then he could hear his mother sigh softly and then she said: "I am not going to leave baby. I love you and I will be here. Don't worry Sasuke." Sasuke nodded and then remembered that she can't see him so he said: "Ok."

"Good boy. Now you need to bring strong, ok?"

"Yes mom," he promised.

"Good bye Sasuke, I love you."

"Good bye mom, I love you too." He could hear the 'click' when his mother hung up and then it was over. Newly formed tears began to fall down uncontrollably and he stood there weeping.

~o~o~o~o~

The dark haired boy was excited beyond description. As the plane began to land the only thing he could think of was his mother waiting for him at the airport and of being able to see and hug her again. He wished the plane would go faster! He clutched his backpack and bit his lower lip in anticipation.

The plane landed with a hideous noise and it began to drive along the road, slowing down with every second that passed. When it stopped completely, the boy stood up instantly and when the pilot gave permission, he rushed toward the exit and sighed in relief once he was outside. His mother was close by, he only needed to find his luggage and then go find his mother. He followed the people who came out of the same plane he was on and proceeded to find his luggage. It took him ten minutes and when he finally spotted it he quickly went to grab but it was too heavy for him. A woman came to his aid and he thanked her with a bright smile that she returned happily. Then he went to find his mom.

His eyes scanned the hall, scanned the faces around him, looking for a particular face. There were so many people! They held sign boards with names on them and…Itachi? Was that…? Yes, it was his brother. The boy smiled and quickly waved to his brother. "Nii-san!" he called to him and Itachi finally turned to look at him. The boy quickly reached where his brother was and gave him a hug. "Nii-san, you didn't have to come too," he told his older brother, "Where's mom?" he finally looked up to meet his brother's eyes and his smile disappeared.

Itachi looked down at his brother and his heart ached so badly. He knelt down in front of Sasuke and pulled him into a tight hug. "What's wrong nii-san?" Sasuke asked, anxious. Why was his brother acting so affectionate all of a sudden? Itachi never hugged him just like that. And what was with that look in his eyes? Why did Itachi look so…sorrowful?

"Sasuke…" Itachi whispered in his ear "Welcome back…"

"Nii-san… where's mom?"

Itachi looked into his little brother's eyes and for once in his life felt like crying then and there. He just couldn't say, couldn't bring himself to say the words Sasuke most feared of. How could he say them? When his mother was everything to his little brother?! But he… he had to.

"Sasuke… mom is… mom's not coming. She can't."

"But she promised!" Sasuke argued, "She promised she would be here to wait for me!!!" Sasuke just couldn't accept the fact that his mother wasn't there to greet him. She promised, after all, and his mother always kept her promises. Always. It just wasn't possible that she wouldn't. And then, slowly realization finally dawned on him and it was worse than not knowing the answer.

"Nii-san… where is mom and dad?" he asked in a trembling voice, afraid of the answer, afraid, so afraid…

"They won't be coming Sasuke…never again…" Itachi finally said but it was his tears that made Sasuke truly understand the full meaning of those words. Because Itachi never cried. But he cried at that moment-shimmering tears running down his pale cheeks and making him look somehow more human.

Sasuke's cry of agony could be heard throughout the entire hall. It wasn't true! He would not believe it! In an instant he was free from Itachi's embrace and running off elsewhere. He ignored his big brother's cries and kept running. He looked at every face he stumbled upon and tried to find familiar faces, familiar smiles but… only wondering eyes met his searching eyes and he could suddenly feel salty hot tears shamelessly sliding down his cheeks. _'No, no, no!_' his mind screamed but realization and reality screamed in reply: Yes, yes, yes!

Someone picked him up from the floor he fell on but Sasuke couldn't care less. He was hardly aware of Itachi's arms embracing him and of his voice whispering soft murmurs. All he knew, all he cared about was that they were gone. Gone forever…and another tear slipped down.

~o~o~o~o~

"The days, weeks and months that followed now seem like a blurry dream but I remember them all too well." Sasuke said softly. Naruto listened the whole time and now that he was done with the worst part he felt, somehow, relieved. As if some heavy weight was lifted from his heart. And it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be, too. Naruto made no attempt to interrupt him and now he even looked as if he was about to cry. Sasuke had to smile at that. "Don't make such a face, usuratonkachi," he told the other boy with a smirk. "I don't need your pity." Naruto's eyes narrowed at the insult but he ignored it never the less.

"I'll make any face I want," he informed the dark-haired boy. Sasuke offered him another smirk and went on.

"Anyway, as my brother likes to call them, those were my 'dark days'. I had no appetite; I didn't feel like doing anything. I hardly ate and thus I became paler and thinner of course. I spent my days skipping school and lying in my bed with heavy metal playing in my ears. My brother says I shut myself from the world and everyone and everything in it. I guess I did, though I can't really tell. I did it sub-consciously. I was alive and yet not." He paused and ran a hand through his hair. From the corner of his eye he noticed that Naruto didn't look at him-his head was turned away from Sasuke and his gaze was fixed on something on the floor.

"The general feeling I was feeling at the time was depression and a lot of despair. I hated everything I saw and everyone that came to my view, including my brother. Whoever I saw, I felt the sudden need to scream, or throw up and it made me do things I really regret now. Like, beating the shit out of Neji once he came to visit me." Sasuke chuckled to himself and Naruto finally turned to look at him, only to give him a hard glare.

"Anyway," Sasuke continued. "Itachi, my brother, decided that it was no good and the bastard got me a psychologist to help me. At first I was furious and I struggled and resisted but Itachi was-and still is-far stronger and smarter than me so in the end I gave up the fight and agreed to meet the damned man.

"He wasn't that bad. He actually managed to help me out of my misery. He guided me, I guess, despite all the things I said to him and even despite trying to attack him," Sasuke chuckled again and Naruto smiled in return.

"I would like to meet him," he told Sasuke.

"Why?" Sasuke asked, confused. Naruto gave him another smile and softly said: "'cause he makes you smile. Hell I had to work my ass off just to get a hint of a smile out of you!" Sasuke didn't know how to react in reply. But thankfully he didn't have to because Naruto asked him to continue.

"After a year with my psychologist I've finally managed to get rid of my depression and everything that came with it and this is how I turned out," he finished.

Naruto said nothing and Sasuke was more than happy to just sit there in silence. But when Naruto finally stretched a little and got up Sasuke looked up in confusion.

"Where are you going?"

Naruto turned to him. "I'm going home," he answered. Sasuke frowned and stood up to. "I am waiting for your story. We made a deal, remember?"

"I remember," Naruto said in a whisper, and mumbled something Sasuke couldn't hear, before saying: "Ok. This is my story: five years ago, I went to a summer camp with Gaara and there I met you. I fell in love with you despite everything, despite how hard it was to make you smile. But it wasn't supposed to mean anything because we were too young and we were never supposed to meet again. That's it." Sasuke almost growled when Naruto made another attempt to leave but Sasuke caught his wrist in time. Naruto turned around, shocked.

"But we did meet again, didn't we Naruto?" Naruto struggled to get free but Sasuke's grip was strong and firm. "It doesn't matter now that I've heard you story," Naruto replied. For now, he gave up struggling and simply stood there in front of Sasuke who seemed to become more and more furious for some reason.

"So now that you've had your answers you're just going to leave? Very selfish Uzumaki, you indeed enjoy playing with people's minds and feelings."

"I don't!" Naruto said.

"Oh, you don't? Then tell me why you're trying to run away." Sasuke's cold voice made him shiver but he couldn't escape nor could he take his eyes off of those enchanting obsidian eyes.

"There's no need for me to be here anymore," he replied. Sasuke raised one elegant brow in question. "I can't tell you why, Uchiha!" Naruto cried in anger.

"Tell me," Sasuke simply demanded.

"There's no need to…it will only make things worse!"

"Tell me Naruto or I'll make you regret that you didn't!"

"Don't threaten me you bastard! I can't believe I'm still in lo-" Naruto stopped himself before he revealed his secret but Sasuke already heard the beginning of that cursed word _and_ he was smart. "You are still in love with me?" it seemed that the new information amazed him. Naruto blushed like a tomato and refused to open his mouth again. He looked away again and Sasuke wished that he hadn't. He wanted to see those blue eyes so much!

"Naruto…" he felt so awkward. "Tell me, why did you try to leave like that? Please…" after a long pause Naruto finally did turn to look at him and Sasuke realized that he couldn't look into those raging eyes yet he couldn't look away.

"It'll only make things worse Sasuke…" he said softly. "Now that I know why, I realize how wrong I was. I thought that you simply toyed with my feelings and that I wasn't important to you at all, not even as a mere friend. I'm sorry for doubting you and I believe that from now it will be better to live our lives the way they should have been if we hadn't met back then."

"But your feelings won't be gone so quickly," Sasuke commented and Naruto shrugged. "I'll push them aside, just like I did the past five years," he said simply.

"So I mean so little to you that you can do that so easily?" Sasuke asked, hurt. Naruto's eyes widened. "No! I didn't mean it like that!" he cried almost desperately.

"Then don't say those things," Sasuke hid a smirk as he scolded Naruto. "Instead say you'll love me forever." If Naruto's eyes could've gotten wider they would've. He stared at Sasuke without knowing what to say or how to react so, in the end, when he began feeling quite stupid, he managed to stutter, half choking: "W-What?!"

"Say you'll love me forever." Sasuke repeated in amusement. This time Naruto wasn't too shocked and he was able to reply: "I will, whether I want to or not." He eyed Sasuke calculatingly.

"Besides, I see it pointless to say those things because you're never going to say them to me in return."

"Why do you think so negatively of me? And what if I did love you too?"

"That's a nice thing to wish upon a falling star, really. Even when we were younger you never gave me the impression that you felt the same way toward me even though I was sickly in love with you."

"I am sorry," Sasuke actually looked ashamed. He swallowed and then bit his lower lip as if trying to fight back something. A laughter, maybe? Suddenly Naruto realized how foolish he must be looking, confessing his love and all like that. He wished for the earth to crack open and swallow him along with his shame.

"Then go out with me," Sasuke finally said and to Naruto's ear those words were too loud, too clear. Both Naruto and Sasuke were surprised at that. Sasuke had no idea were those words came from but he knew why-Naruto. For the past few days all he's been thinking about was the other boy and it was useless to try and think of something else because the picture of Naruto's face, Naruto's smile, always managed to sneak back and Sasuke would drown again in a sea of thoughts, all of them about Naruto. He couldn't understand it all but he realized that he wanted to be with Naruto, to see him, to feel him close by, to hear his voice…and it nearly drove him insane because it was an unfamiliar feeling and frankly, he didn't very like unfamiliar things.

"Won't you go out with me?" he asked in a soft murmur.

~o~o~o~o~

Gaara's mind went blank. He couldn't think of anything to say and it was hard to find his way through the thick clouds of puzzlement and shock. What the hell was Neji thinking?! What kind of question was that? It made Gaara feel very uneasy and for some reason anxious too. Love… it was a concept Gaara didn't like to think about let alone be involved in. Love… it meant nothing good to him. All he knew was that love brought only misery, great pain and then emptiness. He never was loved and he had long forgotten what it was like to love someone. He didn't want to remember.

Neji's gaze never for once left him and Gaara wanted to do something, maybe hurt the boy so badly that he would never talk to him again. In the end he simply put his glass down and got up.

"Are you running away?" Neji asked calmly. Gaara turned to look at him blankly.

"Your questions are ridiculous," he said indifferently.

"Yet you are terrified of them," Neji noted out. Gaara suddenly found it hard to breathe. This boy… he wanted to kill him. Nobody ever talked to him like that and stayed alive long enough to brag about it. He had to shut the boy up before he came up with another ridiculous question.

"You don't know anything Hyuuga," he said calmly despite his anger. "It's a dangerous thing you're getting yourself into."

"Then fill me in with the details," said Neji, cockily.

"It's my own business and you should stay out of them." Gaara turned again and started to walk away, away from the Hyuuga and his stupid questions, away from his presence and the uneasiness it brought. He wanted to see Naruto. He _needed_ to see him. Besides, his brother was probably in some kind of trouble already. He was abruptly pulled out of his thought by two arms that suddenly grabbed his arm and turned him around swiftly. Before he could even register what was happening, he felt soft lips against his own and a soft tongue brushing lightly on his lower lip. Then he saw closed eyelids and dark thick eyelashes and before he could step away, those two arms curled around his waist and he was helplessly trapped within Neji's embrace. After a moment his brain finally returned back into his skull and he pushed the boy away. Neji looked slightly hurt but he couldn't care less. What the hell?!

"What was that supposed to mean?!" he growled in a low, dangerous voice. Neji's expression held some sort of determination when he answered: "I think I'm in love with you."

Gaara wished, really wished, the boy hadn't said that.

"Don't screw with me, bitch!"

"It was definitely destiny that made me fall in love with you," Neji continued mercilessly. Gaara slammed his fist on the slick surface of the table. "Shut the fuck up! You don't know what you're saying and I fucking don't want any part in this!"

"I'm not lying!" Neji insisted and stepped closer. Gaara stepped back. "Stay away from me!" he called to the pale0eyes boy but Neji stepped even closer. "I'm not lying!" he said again, "Don't-just don't step back. Please…" he pleaded.

"Don't come close," Gaara warned but didn't step back either.

For a couple of moments they just stood there in silence, not knowing what to say or not wanting to say anything.

Gaara cursed his damned luck. Out of all the people god could choose as Hyuuga's object of affection, he had to choose him-Gaara. Maybe it was some sort of punishment for some forgotten sin he had committed sometime in the past. He didn't know but he surely didn't like it. And he swore he would beat the shit out of whoever that was responsible for this.

"Listen," Neji finally spoke. "I know it sounds crazy, but you have to believe me." Gaara glared at him and Neji swallowed. "Ever since I can remember myself, I always felt kind of empty, as if something was missing, like a piece of my soul or something like that. To me it felt like looking at an incomplete puzzle. Those empty spaces made me feel incomplete myself, naturally. I never knew what the meaning of it was, and I never cared. I just knew that it was destiny and I had to accept it. But then, when I first saw you, something happened. It was as if someone was showing me where those missing pieces were and I knew that if the fates decided to give me something like that, I had to take it no matter what. So I took it. And then I realized I'm in love with you. We were meant to be Sabaku no Gaara, I know because nothing ever happens without a reason, and if I'm in love with you it means that we're meant to be."

Gaara didn't know what to say to that. Did Neji honestly believe that bullshit? In different times he would have laughed at that but now… now he couldn't laugh.

"Why are you so terrified when I tell you how I feel?" Neji went on. "Why do you look at me with so much anger? Why, when I told you everything you looked at me as if you wanted to throw up and run? I don't remember ever hurting you, or doing anything to you!"

"Stupid, if your words are true than that's the worst thing you could have ever done to me…" was Gaara's reply.

~o~o~o~o~

"What are you saying?!" Naruto was confused and absolutely frustrated.

"Go out with me dobe," Sasuke repeated.

"Why should I do that?"

"Because you love me," was the arrogant answer.

"But _you_ don't love _me_."

"No, I don't."

"Then why?"

"Because I'm tired of this boring life. I'm sick of those stupid girls clinging to me. I need refreshment, you see,"

"Fuck you!"

"Hmm maybe…"

"You're sick…you've changed. You're not the Sasuke I used to know…"

"Wow did you figure that out only now? Wake up idiot, people don't stay the same forever. Things like life and god's fucking sadistic actions force people to change whether they want to or not!"

By then Naruto was on the verge of tears. He was so hurt and mad! Did Sasuke have to be that cruel? Suddenly all he wanted was to be home in his quiet room and sleep through the whole month.

"I hate you…" he hissed at the dark haired boy, but it made Sasuke smirk.

"No you don't," he said evilly, "And the sad part is that I'm right and you know it but there's nothing you can do." Naruto decided that that was it. He did say he could take anything from the Uchiha but that was too much for someone he didn't even want to go out with. Well, actually he _did_ want to go out with Sasuke, but Sasuke was different… crueler. If he did go out with Sasuke they relationship would have been horrible so he had to refuse, although he ached to say yes. He got up from his chair, turned, and without a word left. When Sasuke was out of sight he began to run.

_Oh you can't run from me…_

_Unleash your anger…let your conscience sleep…_

_Feed me…feed me…feed me…_

**No! No! Not now! Not ever!**

His stomach ached, his head ached and felt heavy, his breath became ragged, his could feel his conscience slowly drifting away to hide in some safe place.

**No! Don't! Help me! Help me…! Please help me…**

_Feed me… feed me… feed me...!_

~o~o~o~o~

Neji opened his mouth but closed it again when Gaara's phone started to ring. The red head pulled it out of his pocket an answered. It was from Naruto. Neji couldn't help but feel jealousy creeping inside of him when Gaara spoke to his brother so calmly and affectionately. That feeling soon disappeared upon seeing Gaara's change of expression. He was now wide-eyed.

"What is it?" he asked when Gaara put the phone back in his pocket.

"Naruto."

Gaara let Neji follow when he ran downstairs to the second floor where Naruto and Sasuke were supposed to be.

He found the bastard sitting near a table, looking extremely bored.

"Where is he?!" he demanded. Sasuke looked up at him with cold indifferent eyes and shrugged. "He ran away," he said.

"What did you do to him Uchiha?!"

"Nothing, I merely told him the truth."

"Was he… upset?" Sasuke and Neji both blinked at the unexpected question. Sasuke eyes him suspiciously. "Obviously," he said after a while. Another thing he didn't expect was Gaara's fist. The boy hit him hard on the jaw line.

"What's your fucking problem?!" he cried, angered.

"You fucking shithead! It's your fucking fault! Where did he go?!" Sasuke, pointed toward the stairs and Gaara turned but before he could go his phone rang again.

"Naruto-"

"_Help me…! Gaa-ra… help me… feed me… stop-feed… hel-p…!"_

.o.O.O.o

Like I promised, I haven't abandoned this story. No matter how long it takes me to update, u should know I will not abandon it! Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter (I know I liked the first Gaara\Neji part in this chapter. Thanks for reading!


	7. Hating the Truth

_See, I haven't abandoned my story! I don't do that kind of things. Lately I've been busy with studies, SAT and work so…you get the point. Here is chapter seven with a big SORRY for the long delay. Please enjoy!_

_Chapter 7-Hating the Truth_

.o.O.O.o.

_Hunger… anger… it was all he knew and it drove him insane. He needed to feed, he needed to unleash his anger on something, or rather someone…if only there was someone here…! But the only being inside the small room was him and his poor host who had fallen asleep by now. His poor host…he let out a short raspy chuckle and looked down at his host's hands-_his_ hands. They were pale and colorless; he needed to see some red. He slammed his fists on the wall until blood prickled down his fingers and on his palms. Oh… it felt so nice! Seeing the red liquid excited him even more and his hunger grew immediately. More…more…he slammed his fists on the mirror and watched, captivated, as the glass shattered and the amazing feeling in his hands grew stronger. _

_**Hurts…**_

_Oh no. His vessel was waking up! Must have been the pain. Stupid humans, they don't see the pleasure in it. He couldn't let his vessel get back the control on his body, not yet. He was still angry- his _vessel_ was still angry and hurt therefore he was too. What was it that made his vessel so angry? He could remember cold dark eyes and words…hurtful words. He didn't care, if he were free he would've laughed at his vessels' foolish reactions but since he wasn't free and was bound to his vessel he was forced to feel whatever his vessel felt. He hated it. Being forced to feel these ridiculous emotions was horrible and he cursed whoever trapped him inside a human's flesh. Who was it…? Oh that person looked so much like his vessel, only older and more mature. It doesn't matter now. He could still feel great anger boiling inside of him as his vessel's anger became his. Someone had to pay, he would make someone pay, preferably that dark-eyed person. _

_**Help…**_

_No you foolish human! Don't fight me! He straightened his back and slammed his fists against the mirror again. He laughed maniacally as his vessel cried in pain. _

"Naruto!"

_Damn stupid brother… he could smell his scent behind the closed door and also that dark-eye's horribly nice scent. Good. He needed more blood. _

"Naruto! Are you in there?" Gaara kicked the door open and stopped. He could feel Hyuuga and the bastard tense behind him. "Don't look," he ordered them, surprisingly calm. "Naruto…" he called to his brother.

~o~o~o~o~

Sasuke swallowed when Gaara left and ran in the direction he had pointed. Something wasn't right; he knew it because of Gaara's eyes. He felt horrible. He was horrible. But what could he do now?

"What did you do Sasuke?" Neji asked calmly.

"I am stupid," Sasuke said. Neji rolled his eyes. "Tell me something I don't know…"

"I'm going after him," Neji said after a moment and turned, "I think something's not right, I'm going to check it out."

"I'm coming with you."

They followed Gaara and found him outside the men's room.

"Naruto!" Gaara ignored them and called to his brother. "Naruto! Are you in there?" Gaara suddenly kicked the door open-how did he know Naruto was in there, Sasuke had no idea-and stopped mid-track. Sasuke immediately knew something was wrong when Gaara said: "Don't look." Don't look? Why? What was in there? What was Naruto doing? He was too curious to listen to Gaara's order. He craned his neck and peered inside the room. It was definitely Naruto standing there, with his back to the door and his head hanging low. But what was it about him that made Sasuke suddenly feel such great anxiety?

"Naruto…" Gaara called to him once again and finally, to Sasuke's horror, the boy turned around.

"_Hello Shukaku_," Naruto said, but it wasn't his voice. It was raspy and thick; it made Sasuke tremble in fear. He wanted to close his eyes but it was as if he was enchanted. He could not divert his gaze away from the figure of Naruto. And it was all because of his horrible eyes. They were not sky-blue anymore; they were red, like the blood on his hands and shirt.

"Kyuubi…" Gaara said and tensed. Naruto chuckled.

"_We meet again, finally…_" Sasuke cringed at that voice. What was wrong with Naruto? What was going on here?

"Let go of him, Kyuubi," Gaara demanded in a calm tone. "You're hurting him." Naruto, or Kyuubi for the matter, laughed again. "_Aren't I? This is so nice! I haven't been set free for so long! And I'm hungry; you have no idea how hungry I am. I bet Shukaku can tell you how it feels_."

"Shukaku is dead. Release him Kyuubi."

"_Not yet. Not yet brother. Not before dark-eyes pays_," Kyuubi said and turned his gaze over to Sasuke. Sasuke felt those red eyes piercing his soul and he couldn't hide. Neji gasped beside him.

"Leave him out of this, don't hurt anybody," Gaara said.

"_Oh, but it's all because of him! My vessel is so angry and hurt and you know how your pain becomes ours. His pain is driving me insane! I hate you humans more than anything else for doing this to me, forcing me to feel so much pain and these useless emotions. I will kill you all!_" and with that said, Kyuubi charged.

Sasuke had no time to move a finger before Naruto reached him in an inhuman speed and his hand closed around his throat.

"Stop it!" Gaara called but Naruto's other hand shot forward, seized Gaara's throat and pinned him to the wall with superhuman strength.

"_Don't get in my way or I will kill you!_" Kyuubi warned dangerously. "_As for you_," he turned back to Sasuke. "_Oh I'm so fucking hungry!_" without a warning Naruto lifted Sasuke and threw him against the wall. Sasuke fought back a cry of pain. Naruto laughed. "_I'll break you bone by bone and then I'll savor your vey soul out of your useless broken body. Wouldn't that be great? I'm so thrilled!_" Sasuke groaned. Somewhere beside him Neji stepped back in fear but Naruto, or Kyuubi, ignored him. His prey was Sasuke. Naruto picked Sasuke off of the floor just to slam him against the wall again. "_You made my vessel so hurt and it's driving me crazy. I'll kill you._" He was about to deliver a punch when something suddenly stopped him. _**Stop! Stop! Please stop!**_ His vessel was fully awake.

Naruto struggled to seize back the control over his mind and body and when he finally succeeded he was too exhausted to move a finger. He let go of Sasuke and collapsed on the floor beside Sasuke. When he opened his eyes he met Sasuke's own dark ones. They were shocked, filled with fear.

"I-it wasn't me, I swear…" was the only thing he managed to say before his mind drifted into darkness.

~o~o~o~o~

By the smell that penetrated to his nose Naruto immediately knew he was in a hospital. And by the all too familiar voice above him he knew it was Konoha's Medical Center. He tried to pretend that he was still asleep but he could never fool his mother, the all mighty Tsunade.

"Cut the crap kiddo, I know you're awake."

With a disappointed sigh he finally opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Tsunade's face hovering above him. "M-mom! Don't scare me like that damn it!" he cried, startled. She only said: "language brat." Then, she checked him-did something with some unknown devices- and spoke again.

"So, is it true what Gaara told me?"

Naruto just knew that would come and he dread it. He didn't want to let her know how weak and pathetic he was, how he let his anger get the better of him. He was too ashamed of himself but he knew he would have to answer her, nevertheless.

"I guess," he said almost inaudibly. He couldn't look her in the eyes. She said nothing. "Aren't you… angry?" he tested his luck. She immediately turned to him with furious eyes. "Can't you tell?!" she fumed, her nostrils flaring. Naruto flinched. "I'm sorry…" he mumbled. Realizing what she did, Tsunade sighed and ruffled his mane of blond hair. "Don't be," she said softly. "I know it's hard to keep that demon under control and you're doing a great job. I was just worried because of you. It wasn't your fault honey." Naruto nodded but said nothing. The problem was that it _was_ partially his fault. He was being too emotional while talking to Sasuke. He should've known better. After all, Sasuke was the cause of Kyuubi's awakening in the first place. He felt so stupid and horrible. Finally recalling his and Sasuke's conversation, he mentally smacked his forehead. How could he let Sasuke anger him so much? Hadn't he decided many years ago that Uchiha Sasuke was a thing of the past? That he would not let anything Sasuke-related to make him lose control of his calm, of his emotions? But he did lose control and he hated himself for that.

"Don't look so pitiful Naruto," Tsunade's voice pulled him back to the present. "Cheer up, your brothers and sisters are here to see you."

"Why am I in here anyway?" he asked, confused. "I don't remember being hurt."

"Even so, I had to make sure you were indeed alright and that you had no injuries. Besides, Gaara made up a nice story to cover up what truly happened so in order to stick to the plotline we had to bring you here." Oh. Now all was crystal clear. At that moment the door flung open and in walked Gaara, rather calmly-considering he probably just kicked the door open- followed by Ten-Ten, Temari and Kankuro.

"Aren't ya looking good brother!" Kankuro said, grinning from ear to ear and Ten-Ten giggled. "Nii-chan did Kyuubi chan really beat Sasuke sempai like a useless rug?" she asked. Naruto shot a very smug Gaara a glare. "I guess I did," he finally said when Gaara refused to look at him. To that Ten-Ten laughed and said it was a pity she wasn't there to watch. Naruto still wondered why she referred to the demon as 'chan' if Kyuubi knew he would probably kill her.

"Are you alright Naruto?" Temari stepped closer to him and examined his face. "Sure I am," he assured her. She smiled and ruffled his hair. God, he thought, sometimes she was so much like Tsunade, what did those two have with his hair?

"I'm glad to hear," she continued. "I went to see how Sasuke is doing-"

"Sasuke? He's here too?" Naruto hadn't thought of that. He swallowed, dreading the answer and also longing to hear it.

"Yes. I'm afraid he is," Tsunade answered instead of Temari. "The brat is in quite the condition, at least three broken limbs, a hole in his left lung due to one of the ribs penetrating it and a serious internal and external bleeding. Yes, he's quite hurting."

Naruto hid his face in his palms. How horrible…all those injuries… and he was the one who responsible for all of them! He felt like vomiting. His stomach twisted just at the thought of what he had done to Sasuke. He was a horrible person because he couldn't control his emotions; he was unable to control the Kyuubi.

"Did you have to elaborate so much?" he heard Temari's concerned voice.

"Yes," came the reply from his mother. "He needs to know it. He needs to know what that demon is capable of-"

"He didn't mean to release it!"

"Nevertheless, it happened. Just because of one slip-up we can't have Naruto to get used to losing control of the demon. I'm saying this not because it's dangerous to anyone around him but because it's also dangerous for him himself! The Kyuubi's energy is negative; it hurts the vessel more than you can tell so as far as I'm concerned no stupid fucked up demon is going to hurt any of my kids!" Naruto opened his eyes in surprise just to find out Tsunade stormed out of the room muttering something about checking up on the Uchiha. After the door was once again closed, an awkward silence filled the room. For some reason nobody agreed to look at Naruto who was gradually becoming more and more uncomfortable with the situation.

"Ok, will you stop that?!" he said. Ten-Ten stared at him.

"Kaa-chan can be so scary…" she said, truly amazed. That broke the ice and they all laughed.

"So, Gaara, mom said you came up with a nice cover-up story…" Naruto said, eyeing his brother in suspicion. Gaara smirked. "You're a gay guy with a very weak heart. Some bullies picked up on you because of that and then right when they were about to beat you, your love of life and secret crush came to your rescue. Of course he got all the beating and shit but he managed to scare them away. Then he confessed his love to you and you fainted in his arms."

Gaara could be seen running down the corridors, laughing maniacally whilst a very mad Naruto tried to fight Kankuro restraining him so he could catch Gaara and unleash Kyuubi's energy on him.

~o~o~o~o~

To say he felt like shit was an understatement. Everything hurt; even the mere task of breathing was painful. Well, his lung _did_ get pierced. By his broken rib. Damn it! If he knew that Naruto was…no. he shouldn't be thinking of that-that _monster_ right now. He should try to relax, calm himself and try to get better as soon as possible. But hell it was so hard to calm down when his whole body ached so much! From head to toe he felt like he'd been crushed under an elephant's foot and then ran over by a herd of zebras. What's more, his pride's been damaged. Badly. No one ever made fun of him, no one ever dared to lay hands on him and no one ever put him in such a…_pathetic_ state! Naruto… Naruto was responsible for everything. He was the reason why Sasuke was bound to this damned cheap bed and he was the one who damaged his pride! But as hard as he tried, Sasuke couldn't bring himself to hate the blonde boy. The words he said right before fainting still echoed inside his head like a damaged CD. "_It wasn't me, I swear…_" and Sasuke believed him. He believed him, and he didn't know why. He should hate him, shouldn't he? He should despise and abhor him for what he did to him, shouldn't he? Logic said that, yes, he should indeed hate him but for some reason logic wasn't dominant in his mind anymore. What ruled his mind instead was the thought of how he should talk to the boy once he gets to see him again? He didn't think too much of his injuries, all he seemed to care about was the fact that he had hurt Naruto's feelings, once again. And the worst part of it all was that he knew what he was doing, he knew his words would hurt the boy and still, he couldn't stop.

"I see you're awake, that's good," he heard a voice and soon enough he saw a big breasted woman approaching him. She was blonde with honey-colored eyes and of course-huge boobs. There was no way he could miss them. "I thought you were gay, but with the way you stare at them I'm beginning to doubt it," she teased. Sasuke blushed deeply and looked away. The woman gave a short chuckle and proceeded to check him up. He watched in silence as she examined the monitors and played with the buttons that only god knew what they did and scowled when she turned to face him once more. "Aren't you a grumpy one…smile brat. Life's too short to live in grief." She eyed him in a way Sasuke didn't like. "You're done with the check up, why don't you leave me alone?" he asked, irritated by her piercing gaze. She merely raised one fine brow. "That's not a way to talk to the head of KMC, Uchiha," she said and smirked when Sasuke's eyes widened in realization. "You're his mother," he stated. She looked surprised but nodded. "I am his mother." Sasuke felt his guts turning upside down. What the hell? This-this _woman_ was Naruto's mother?! They were so not alike! He would've never imagined her to be so…bold. When people talked about the great doctor Tsunade he imagined her as an elderly woman with soft white hair tied in a bun and a face full of wrinkles. The real Tsunade was nothing like that. She was, first of all, much younger than his imaginary Tsunade and obviously prettier. Also, she seemed proud and scary unlike the Tsunade in his head who was nice, gentle and amiable.

"Are you surprised?" she asked. He didn't answer; it was kind of a rhetoric question. "I am surprised myself," she said after a moment. "I'm not exactly the mother-type woman." She chuckled, Sasuke listened. "People who used to know me would have never believed that I would be a mother to five kids, and in the past I wouldn't have either. It was just not me," she paused and for a brief moment Sasuke could see sadness in her eyes that wasn't there before. "But life and reality always keep changing us whether we like it or not, whether we notice or not. We are always changing; it's only up to us if for good or for bad." Then her eyes met his and Sasuke felt so small under her strong, determined stare. "Naruto is doing his best to fight his demon. It was sealed within him by his own father who died in the process, and ever since Naruto had to fight the demon for control over his very own body. It's not an easy task. Because of the demon inside of him, people are scared of him. They keep away from him and treat him as a monster. He was a threat to them and he will always remain a threat in their eyes because that's the nature of human beings. They are scared of what they don't know. I don't blame them, it's not their fault but neither is it my son's. Do you know how hard it is for a mother to know for a fact that her son will always be an outcast? Do you know how hard it is for a mother to not be able to protect her son from this cruel, hateful world? But Naruto is a good boy; he always tries to make me happy, always tries not to worry me. Tell me Uchiha, now that you're finally beginning to realize what he is and finally beginning to _hate_ who he is, do you think it is fair?" Sasuke didn't know what to answer her. Fair? How could he tell what was fair and not? A couple of days ago he might have said that it wasn't fair that he's got the shit beaten out of him, but now… now he wasn't sure at all.

~o~o~o~o~

Sasuke was released from the hospital after two long horrible weeks and was ordered to rest for another one so that he could heal properly. However, he hated it. He hated being confined to a bed and do nothing. He had music, true, and books to read and things to eat but it was boring. He was stuck in the same place-the same bed!- and that was just it. He hated it. He wanted to be ok. And when he finally was allowed to be active again, the first thing he did was go jogging. He definitely needed it.

It was a nice day outside, considering it was winter, and he only needed a jumper to keep himself warm (well, jogging helped to). He started off from his house gates and jogged around the house and then went down the hill and to the park where people were enjoying their selves on that fine day. The sky was quite bright above him, with some clouds on the far horizon. A chilly wind caressed his cheeks and messed his black hair. It was so nice to feel his legs move! To feel his muscles work. He realized suddenly, that hadn't Naruto injured him so badly and force him to be confined to a bed for so long he would've never learned to appreciate his body and its abilities. And again… he was thinking of _him_. Uzumaki Naruto… the boy who hurt him, the boy who got him hospitalized for two weeks, the boy who, for some reason, Sasuke couldn't become mad at. It was weird, that new feeling, the feeling as if he was very enthusiastically expecting for something to happen. It made his stomach feel funny. But he didn't hate the feeling; it was nice in a strange way despite the face that it made him feel… well, funny. Why was he not mad at Naruto? Only god knows, and Sasuke was definitely no god. He was just a teenager trying to deal with his life. And Naruto was something in his life that he needed to deal with. He hasn't seen the boy for a month and as much as he didn't like it Sasuke knew that seeing the boy again was inevitable. It needed to happen sooner or later and he decided that sooner was better. _When I get back to school tomorrow_, he finally decided and made his way back home. Tomorrow will be the day that he would deal with Uzumaki Naruto, vessel of the nine-tailed fox demon, Kyuubi.

When Sasuke was back at home, Itachi was there, watching some odd series on the TV. Itachi has been there ever since he heard what happened. He missed the ROCK N' ROLL Day but he couldn't care less. He knew Sakura would fill him in with the details anyway.

"Sasuke, you're back." It wasn't a question. Itachi looked up and gave his little brother a soft smile. Sasuke smiled back and settled on the sofa beside his brother.

"What the hell are you watching?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Boys Over Flowers," was the answer. Sasuke choked.

"You're so gay…!"

"Indeed, so are you."

"I'm a manly gay."

"Please… you're an uke gay."

"Like hell as if I'd be uke!"

"You are, Sas-UKE!"

"Shut up!"

"Speaking of which, do you have a boyfriend?" Itachi's question was met with silence. He glanced sideways at his little brother and was surprised to see the look of contemplation on his face. "You don't?!" he asked, astonished, "I can't believe it! You, with the whole I'm-so-perfect-go-screw-yourself attitude, no one agreed to go out with you? Or is it that you think no one's worthy of you?" Sasuke remained silent and refused to look at his brother. Itachi sighed and coiled an arm around his brother's shoulders, pulling him closer.

"You're acting like child Sasuke," he said softly, "you'll never find happiness if you don't come to terms with yourself."

"Like you know what it's all about," Sasuke muttered in annoyance.

"Well then what is it all about?"

"Nothing."

"See, that's what I'm talking about Sasuke. Obviously it's not nothing, and the way I see it it's actually far from 'nothing'. But unless you come to terms with yourself that you have a problem you won't be able to find the solution to it!"

"I know I have a problem! Do you think I'm _that_ stupid?!" Sasuke was annoyed. "I fucking know I have a fucking fucked up problem!"

"Then, what is it?"

"Nothing."

Itachi released an exasperated sigh and uncoiled his arm from Sasuke's shoulders. "In that case little brother," he said as he got up, "I hope you'll be able to define what 'nothing' is." And he left to make himself a cup of coffee.

~o~o~o~o~

It felt kind of weird to be back in school after a long month of being far away from it, not even touching a single book or doing homework. Everyone was staring at him as if it was the first time they ever saw him. Apparently they had a vague idea of what truly happened and they were probably assuming other things, exaggerated things. They could all go to hell if it was up to him. Unfortunately it wasn't.

Neji was by his side all the time, following him around like a faithful dog. A sarcastic, full of venom, faithful dog. He never stopped teasing Sasuke about his weakened state and about him not doing homework or completing the assignments they were given. Sometimes Sasuke felt like shoving an iron stick up Neji's behind and make him dance samba. But he had to admit that it was nice to have Neji back, to be able to talk to him or anyone else. He never thought he'd miss the company of his friends this much, but he did. Hell he didn't even know he could miss school and classes but he did, a little.

What he dreaded the most, though, was meeting Naruto. He had decided that he would talk to the other boy but he was terrified of the mere idea of it. And he hated being afraid. He hated feeling like a fearful useless puppy. He wanted to hate Naruto for making him feel this way, but he couldn't bring himself to do so.

But Naruto was absent the day Sasuke came back and so Sasuke had to wait 'till Naruto decide to show up.

It happened to days later.

The classroom was empty except for a lone figure leaning on the desk in the back of the room. Sasuke could immediately tell who it was for only Naruto had such shocking golden hair. He noticed with concern that Naruto seemed a little thinner and paler. At that moment Naruto decided to look up. They both froze, staring into the other's intense filled eyes. For a moment that seemed like eternity they were just like that, Naruto half leaning on the desk, Sasuke standing dumbly at the entrance. And then Sasuke took a step forward. Naruto swallowed but refused to look away.

"Good morning," Sasuke's voice was indifferent.

"G-good morning," was Naruto's shaken reply. An intense silence followed as both of them wanted to say what was on their hearts but neither of them daring to. Sasuke felt utterly stupid as he tried to speak but failed miserably. The whole thing was absolutely ridiculous! He should feel that way, he was an Uchiha for god's sake! Uchihas were proud, aloof and…had the best masks. He sighed in defeat.

"Uzumaki-"

"Sasuke-"

Naruto chuckled. "You go first," he said but Sasuke shook his head seriously. "No, you go first," he told the blonde. Naruto looked into his eyes, searching for something and after a moment sighed deeply.

"I'm transferring to another school;" he finally said slowly, "My mother doesn't want me to continue in Konoha high. She says…that love is something I can learn all over again. She says that sometimes you have to let go of the past…"

.o.O.O.o.

I am truly sorry for the too long delay. I can only say I was experiencing what they call 'a writer's block'. Honestly I'm not very pleased with this chapter as I was forcing myself to write it. But I do hope you still enjoyed it.

I am kind of disappointed that Sasuke and Naruto were unable to go to the ROCK N' ROLL Day event but as compensation the next chapter will include Akatsuki (the band) members, so look forward to it! (Or don't, I really don't know how much my story will continue to defy me…). Anyway thanks a lot for reading!


	8. Photographs

_Yes! The 8__th__ chapter is finally done! I'm so happy, you have no idea! I'm sorry for the too long delay (it seems like this is my opening sentence) and I hope you haven't given up on me and my fic! Please read and I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it._

_Chapter 7-Photographs_

.o.O.O.o.

Sasuke felt somewhat odd. There was this strange feeling inside of him which made him feel uneasy. What was it that made him feel like this? He couldn't find the answer, no matter how much he tried.

It was Tuesday. Naruto left Leaf Academy. And Neji was pissed off.

Sasuke had an idea why, though. It was because of Naruto's departure, or rather, what happened because of Naruto's departure. Sabaku Gaara would have followed Naruto to hell if he could. When Naruto transferred to a different school, so did Gaara. And it pissed Neji off because, apparently, he was in love with the grumpy moody red-head.

Sasuke found it hard to grasp. How could you possibly feel such strong feelings for someone to begin with? To him it seemed like a mere burden which he didn't want to be bothered with. But Neji-Neji!-he claimed to be in love with Sabaku Gaara.

Sasuke let out a small sigh and seated himself on the bench beside Neji. It was a cloudy day and the weather just started turning even chillier than usual. Sasuke loved it. Winter was his season.

"Did you speak to that Sabaku?" he asked, not knowing what made him do so. He wasn't really interested in Neji's love life, but something about his friend's expression-Sasuke couldn't figure out exactly what- made him spill the words before he could stop himself.

"As if you care Uchiha," came the bitter reply and Sasuke had to smirk.

"I don't, really," he said to his sulking friend, "just asking because you look like shit."

"Why, thanks for informing me," Neji said. "I do appreciate your concern."

It was always like this between the two of them. It was as if they communicated solely through sarcasm.

Neji pulled a packet of cigarettes out of his pocket and fished one out. Putting it in his mouth, he lit it up and inhaled deeply. Immediately he seemed more relaxed.

"I pity you Uchiha," he finally said after a moment of silence. Sasuke said nothing. A smoking Neji was like a hungry Chouji- annoying and obnoxious. So he preferred to let the storm pass without making a fuss over it. "You're like a shadow," Neji went on. "I can touch you but not really feel you, now can I? I think, someone stole your actual body and left only your shadow."

"Very poetic, Hyuuga."

"Thank you Uchiha. But there's more!" Neji smirked at Sasuke who scowled unhappily. Neji inhaled his cigarette again. "You're kind of pathetic. You keep distancing yourself from people, scowling at them every time someone tries to talk to you and when people try to make friends with you, I mean become real friends with you, you run away as if a hundred demons are chasing you. I bet you're also lonely but just too damn proud to admit it!" Neji finished his cigarette and let out a chuckle. And suddenly, Sasuke knew what it was all about.

"You've fallen hard for the Sabaku," was all he said and Neji shut up. Now it was Sasuke's turn to laugh. "And you call me pathetic…"

"You are." Neji insisted. "You like Naruto, maybe even have a crush on him, but like I said," he pinned Sasuke with a glare, "You're just too damn proud to admit it."

"Fuck off Hyuuga." And Sasuke stood up and left. Neji stood there for a few more minutes, staring into the cloudy sky, before the bell rang and he too went inside the building. Uchiha Sasuke was so stubborn sometimes.

~o~o~o~o~

There were other things on Sasuke's mind. He wondered, for example, what Naruto really was, and who was Kyuubi? The name rang some bells but Sasuke just couldn't remember where he heard it before. Lady Tsunade said something about a demon in Naruto. Did she mean it literally? Or was there a real demon inside Naruto? Was it even possible? Do demons really exist? It was all too crazy and for a while Sasuke felt like he was inside a dream, where anything is possible and nothing is too odd. While he was recovering from his injuries, Sasuke wanted nothing to do with Naruto. But now, now he was intrigued. How could any human being posses such speed and strength like Naruto had demonstrated? So he decided to do a little research and find some answers.

He didn't find much, though. He searched Kyuubi and Shukaku but what he found wasn't much.

**Kyuubi: the nine-tailed fox demon, the strongest and most powerful of all nine demons. **

**Shukaku: the one-tailed raccoon demon, the first and weakest of all nine demons.**

**According to legends there are nine demons who roam our world. They are ranked from one to nine by their number of tails which indicates their power. One tail (Shukaku) is the weakest and nine tails (Kyuubi) is the strongest. But even the one-tailed Shukaku is more powerful than one can imagine. **

It wasn't helpful at all. All it told him was that Kyuubi and Shukaku were demons, real ones.

Sasuke sighed in exhaustion. He closed his eyes and fell backwards, landing softly on his bed. Outside the sun was already setting, painting the sky crimson red and gold. He was so tired ever since yesterday and the thing was he didn't do anything out of the ordinary to exhaust himself like this. Maybe he was just thinking too much.

There were knocks on his bedroom door and it opened. Itachi stood there.

"Come Sasuke, Deidara's here." Sasuke mentally groaned. God, he hated that guy, he couldn't tell exactly why, but he disliked him so much!After the ROCK N' ROLL day (which he missed of course, not that it was a bad thing but he wanted to see Sasori sama in action!) Deidara and the others stayed for a couple of days and then left. Itachi stayed with Sasuke, who was healing from his injuries, so Deidara would come to visit sometimes and stay no longer than two days each visit.

"I'm coming," he said and got up. He put on a "Sasori is the BEST" tee, just to piss Deidara off, and followed his brother downstairs. Deidara was there, in the kitchen-the kitchen!- making something suspicious for dinner. His long blond hair was tied up in a high pony-tail and he was wearing rather nice jeans and a simple white tee that fit him very nicely. Itachi came up behind him and gave him a light peck on the cheek which Deidara returned with a full kiss on the mouth.

"Geez, find a room, will you?" Sasuke grumbled and made them both chuckle.

"Aww! Don't be like that Sasuke-kun!" Deidara turned to him, holding a half sliced onion. "One day you too will find the one for you, don't worry!" Itachi laughed and went to set the table.

"So Sasuke-kun, how's school?" Deidara asked while cutting the onion. Sasuke guessed that he was trying to be nice, start a conversation, but Sasuke didn't want him to be. He didn't want to have a conversation with him. 'Just leave me alone,' he thought but instead said: "It's fine. It's school. How could it ever be?" Maybe his voice was too sarcastic or too monotonous because Itachi shot him a glare. Sasuke ignored him.

"Oh, I don't know," Deidara said, completely oblivious, "School was pretty fun in my days."

"I guess your days are over," Sasuke replied coolly. This time Itachi's glare was harder and Sasuke had the brains to look away.

"Yes, I guess they are," Deidara said, not minding Sasuke's tone at all.

Dinner was finally ready and the three of them sat down around the table to eat. Sasuke had to admit (begrudgingly) that Deidara was a marvelous cook. The food was better than any home-made food he'd ever tasted and maybe even better than the food in some of the fancier restaurants. Sasuke hated it. He hated that Deidara was here, he hated that he was dating Itachi. He hated that Deidara was so talented and seemingly perfect! He was handsome, his voice was amazing and he could cook! What's more, it seemed like he was a good-hearted man too because he didn't mind Sasuke's jibes and sarcasm. Sasuke couldn't stand it.

"Is something wrong with the food Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke looked up in surprise. "No," he answered. He didn't know he was being so obvious. He needed to be more careful, because it seemed like his mask was falling off. "Oh, I thought maybe you didn't like it because you made a face a moment ago."

"No, it's great," he said truthfully. Deidara smiled and went back to his conversation with Itachi, but Sasuke didn't miss the look Itachi gave him. 'Great, now he's suspicious.' The meal went on peacefully and after they finished they moved to the living room, where they watched a movie that Deidara brought. Coincidentally it was called "The Legend of the Nine-Tailed Fox". Deidara and Itachi didn't miss his sudden interest in the movie.

"Do you like this kind of stuff Sasuke-kun?" Deidara asked, smiling softly.

"Not really," Sasuke answered. "A friend of mine is a huge fan of legends and things that have a connection to demons," he lied, "Especially the Kyuubi and Shukaku."

"Really? Then he has some very unusual fascinations." Itachi said, eyeing Sasuke.

"Yes," Sasuke said, "He's a little unusual himself."

"I don't remember you having a friend like that," Itachi continued and Sasuke cursed inwardly. "No, he's that guy, Uzumaki," he said in the end, finding no way out of it without telling the truth. Well half of it, since Naruto wasn't really fascinated by demons. Or if he was, Sasuke didn't know it.

"The one you-"

"-Got into a fight with. Yes, him."

Itachi said nothing. Sasuke had no idea what he was thinking, he could never be sure with Itachi, but for some reason he hoped whatever he was thinking it wasn't too harsh on Naruto. When Itachi was informed of Sasuke's hospitalization, by Lady Tsuande herself, he said nothing and just came to be with his little brother. He didn't ask questions, didn't want to hear the story. Sasuke suspected that Tsunade informed him with the details of what really happened too. He was kind of glad for that, actually. He was afraid of Itachi's reaction. No, to be exact, he was afraid Itachi would become mad at Naruto. And that for itself was odd because Sasuke didn't _care_ about the guy! Moreover, Naruto _did_ hurt him, didn't he? Why should he care if Itachi was mad at Naruto? But he did and it annoyed him because he didn't know why.

"What's his name?" asked Deidara.

"Naruto."

"It's an unusual name indeed."

Sasuke mumbled something but they didn't hear him because the movie had started. It was actually rather nice, he had to admit, and somewhat believable. But he wouldn't admit it because it was a movie Deidara had picked.

"I'm going to my room," he announced when the movie was over and didn't bother to wait for a reply.

His room was his sanctuary. It was filled with things he loved and objects that reminded him of things he loved. Photographs were a major décor; the room was filled with them, all kinds of them, all over the walls. There were photographs from his childhood, photographs of his family and some friends, photographs of places he'd been to and photographs of random people who Sasuke didn't know but found them interesting enough. Photography was a hobby oh his which not many knew about and Sasuke wasn't really a person who would tell everything about himself even to his friends. The only people who knew about his hobby were Itachi, his deceased parents, Sakura and Neji. Not that he minded people knowing, he just didn't think it was relevant for them to know.

As he entered his room and glanced around briefly, Sasuke was suddenly reminded of his first camera. It was given to him by a friend of his father to his tenth birthday. That was how he became infatuated with photography. That person, he remembered, was also a renowned photographer and had taught Sasuke the basics of photography. Since then Sasuke and the camera were inseparable. Wherever he went, Sasuke had made sure to always to his camera with him. And it was a good camera and he taken many pictures with it. Soon after, Sasuke decided that knowing the basics wasn't enough and he began his photography studies. He was a bright student and excelled beyond expectations. Some of his photographs were bought by enthusiastic people who found his works marvelous, and the fact that he was only a child made them feel even more compelled to buy them. It was obvious that he loved what he did.

Sasuke lied on his bed and stared blankly at the ceiling above. It was cream-colored and unlike his bedroom walls it was blank and plain. He preferred it that way, though. He once thought of covering it too with photos but then decided against it. He needed something to be blank and plain and simple. It was just like in life; everything was like a storm of photographs, a puzzle, and sometimes it was too much to bear with. That was when simplicity was his salvation.

Sasuke rubbed his eyes and averted his eyes to the open window. The sky was now dark but there no stars that could be seen because of the clouds. A chilly wind blew in and made him shiver involuntarily. He the got up and went to close the window. The garden below looked rather spooky at this time. Beyond the tall walls that surrounded the house, Sasuke knew, was the city of Konoha, probably wide awake and vigorous as if it was still day. He couldn't see it, but he could hear the voices and noises in the distance; the cars and the train, people shouting and laughing. It was as if he was living in a different dimension where he could hear the other world but not see it, not feel it. Not really.

He went back to his bed and lay there once again, not feeling like doing anything in particular. He checked his watch-it was seven pm- and sighed audibly. He had home-works to do but he didn't want to. Suddenly he felt tired, as if all his built-up fatigue and stress knew that now he could finally rest and get some peace. But before he could go to sleep Sasuke went to brush his teeth and wash his face. He changed to his pajama and slipped under his blankets. Now he felt very calm and tired in a nice way. It was very early to go to sleep but he didn't care at all. He had home-works but he didn't care either. Slowly he drifted into a deep sleep while a storm began to brew outside and the tree-tops shook with fear as the hazardous winds threatened to uproot them mercilessly.

~o~o~o~o~

Sasuke dreams he is soaring in the sky. No, no really soaring because he was thrown into the air by the horrible winds. It is a hurricane now and he can't do anything about it. He flies in a whirlwind, his limbs ache. He wonders when it's going to stop and where he'll land. He hopes it's not too far away from his room, or his bed, because suddenly he notices that the whirlwind is inside his room itself. And then all the photographs are torn away from the walls and Sasuke is surrounded by them, hundreds of photographs whirling around him, colliding with his face and sticking to him everywhere. When he tries to take them off new ones immediately replace them and he sees his past and memories. Here is that old tree where he found a red fox cub, and here is him with his brother at the lake… there is his mother hugging him and smiling, he almost forgot how beautiful she was…! And there is his father, serious and calm but his eyes shine with happiness. There's Sakura and Neji and there's Shikamaru asleep under a tree in the Uchiha gardens, there's him with his family and friends… Sasuke wants it all to stop. He wants to be back in his bed and sleep peacefully, how did the storm enter his room? Why can't he call for help? His voice was gone! Where is Itachi? Does he not hear the noise? But then Sasuke realizes that he can't hear it either, it's a silent storm in which no sound exists, not even his own voice. He tries to get back to his bed. He desperately tries to but the storm is fierce and much stronger than him. He can't. And then… he sees something. He doesn't know what it is but it looks like a golden stripe of some sort. He wants to reach it, he tries to but it disappears as suddenly as it came.

~o~o~o~o~

Sasuke rubbed his eyes for the tenth time at least. God, he was so tired! You would think that after sleeping so many hours he'd be kind of refreshed, but he wasn't. His sleep was plagued by odd dreams about his photographs and storms and golden stripes. He felt like he didn't sleep at all!

"You look horrible," Neji told him later at lunch.

"Is something wrong?" Sakura asked him worriedly. Sasuke mentally groaned. Now they noticed, damn it all.

"I had stupid dreams," he said begrudgingly, knowing too well she wouldn't stop bothering him until he told her the truth, and lying to her would be futile because Sakura seemed to have the irritating ability to detect lies.

"What about?"

"Stupid stuff. I don't remember." She gave him an apprehensive look but asked nothing more, thankfully. Sasuke knew she didn't let go of the subject, she simply let him be for now, and he tried not to think of when she'd attack again. He needed to find a good way to avoid her. Or prevent her from asking any more questions. He didn't feel like dealing with her at the moment.

"Maybe he's having dreams about someone," Neji suggested with a smirk. Sasuke glared at him coldly. "Dreams he doesn't want to share with us," Neji added.

"Shut your hole Hyuuga," Sasuke snapped at him. Neji just smirked in response and turned to Sakura.

"Have you heard from Uzumaki-kun?" he asked. Sasuke rolled his eyes but Neji ignored him.

"In fact I have," said Sakura brightly, "He goes to Haki Academy now, you know." Neji nodded and Sasuke looked up. "Haki?" he repeated, as if not believing his ears. She nodded. "The ones we beat last year?" Sasuke asked again. "And the year before that and the year before that," Neji confirmed. At that moment he glanced at Sasuke meaningfully and Sasuke returned the same look. Sakura watched the interaction between the two and she didn't like it. Because they seemed like they were wordlessly agreeing on something and whenever Sasuke and Neji happened to agree on something it was never a good thing.

"You better not be thinking of doing something stupid," she warned.

"Stupid? We wouldn't dare to!" Neji promised but his smirk said otherwise.

"We're just going to crush them harder this year," said Sasuke, grinning deviously. Sakura sighed. Boys were so competitive! But why did the both of them want so badly to beat Haki again this year? There was definitely something going on she didn't know about, but what? Was it somehow connected to Naruto-kun?

"Anyway," she said after a while, "Naruto's doing well. He said he joined the art club. Which reminds me," she turned to Sasuke, "Sai said he needs to talk to you." Silence. Everyone waited for Sasuke's reaction. For a long moment he said nothing. Sai wanted to talk to him. About what, he had no idea. But for Sai to have something to tell him… it was kind of absurd. Sai was very distant and aloof, but not in the same way as Sasuke though. Sai never interacted with other people even if necessary. If he did, it was because of some odd reason no one understood or could understand. He was observed in his own strange world and people were a little wary of him because he was so unlike the rest of the world. But they didn't know what Sasuke knew- Sai was autistic. It was worse when he was a child but now it was better, much better.

"Yeah, ok," he said finally. "He'll be in the club room, right? I'll go talk to him." Sakura nodded and returned to her food.

When the bell rang they all put they cleared off their trays and went back to their classes, Sasuke and Neji to Advanced Math and Sakura to Biology.

~o~o~o~o~

Sasuke stood at the door and watched silently. Sai hasn't noticed him yet. He was busy with a large canvas, probably painting something beautiful as usual. Sasuke didn't want to disturb his work. He looked so concentrated yet calm at the same time. His brows were furrowed and his lips a thin line on his pale face. Sasuke didn't want to disturb him but he couldn't stand there the whole day.

"Sai," he called to the boy and stepped inside. Sai looked up, his face expressionless as usual. "Sasuke-kun," he greeted without a smile. Sasuke stepped behind him and examined his work. It was magnificent, but the concept was what caught his attention.

"It's…"

"Uzumaki-kun," Sai completed. Sasuke stared at the painting and couldn't help but admire Sai's skillful hands and observant eyes. Most people thought Sai was stupid or maybe not very smart but the truth was the opposite. Sai had the sharpest eyes he'd ever seen. They could capture every person, object or view exactly as they were, not only on the outside but also on the inside. When he painted a person you could almost see his heart and soul. It was as if he could capture not only your look but your whole being too.

"But why…?" Sasuke wanted to know. Sai put down his pencil and stared at the canvas before him. "It's for you," he said after a long moment of silence, not looking at Sasuke. He never looked at people when he talked to them.

Sasuke blinked in surprise. For him? Did Sai know something? There was no way he did, because… well why not? Naruto used to be in Sai's club, was he not? Maybe Naruto told him something. No, it wasn't possible. Why would Naruto tell something so private to a person he barely knew?

"Umm… but why?" he asked again, utterly confused. Sai's reasons were always a mystery. Sai then looked up and stared Sasuke in the eye. Their black eyes were so much alike yet so different. Sai's eyes were void, almost dead and Sasuke was unable to tear away his gaze. The moment was intense. Then Sai spoke.

"He… smiles and… means it. You are fake. He can teach us how to be real. Make him come back." He struggled for the right words but it was not a request. It was a demand and Sasuke could only stare at him. What did he mean by 'you are fake'?

"I can't make him come back," he finally said, unable to think of anything better to say. Sai glanced at him and lifted one delicate eyebrow. "Yes you can," was all he said before going back to his canvas. Silently he removed the canvas from its stand and carefully folded it. Then he handed it to the surprised Sasuke.

"Oh, the sun is shining…" he said to no one in particular and Sasuke looked out the window. It was true. The sun came out from behind the grey clouds and its golden rays made the world sparkle.

~o~o~o~o~

His old camera lay inside a drawer in his closet. He hadn't used it in a while, maybe in two years, but now he felt like going out and putting that old camera to good use. Sasuke grabbed it gently and dusted it. So many pictures were taken with this camera, so many memories treasured with it. He wore the camera strap around his neck and then put on a jacket. It was almost time for sunset and though the rain stopped and the sun came out it was still cold.

"Where are you going?" Itachi asked. He was in the kitchen, making dinner.

"Outside," Sasuke answered without farther elaboration and left. It was a good thing he added a muffler to his outfit because it was also windy outside. He left the house and wandered along the streets of his neighborhood. It was one of the most prestigious neighborhoods in Konoha. Many celebrities lived here but Sasuke didn't really know them. He wasn't interested in celebrities. He liked the place because of its location and the view it provided. From the windows of their second and third floors he could see the valley bellow and the neighboring village. In the distance he could see the mountains behind which the sun set every day. Sasuke walked up the hill and stood there at the top, the valley spread bellow him. The setting sun painted the sky crimson and gold and when he inhaled the cold air he suddenly felt more alive than ever. He took some pictures of the valley and the mountains and the setting sun. When he checked them out there was one he like in particular. It was of the valley but on the left top of the photo there was the sun, peaking between the mountain tops. The light it casted was golden and bright and made the valley almost shine in a divine light. It reminded him of his dream.

When he was done Sasuke went back to his house. Dinner was ready but Sasuke wanted to put his camera back in its place so he went upstairs and put it back in the drawer. He was satisfied and for unknown reasons-happy. He turned around, intending to leave his room, but something on the wall caught his attention. It was unusual for something on his wall to capture his attention because, really, his bedroom walls were all decorated with so many photographs and small items that he didn't pay attention to them anymore. But what he thought he saw at that moment… Sasuke stepped closer. From here it looked like a… golden stain. He stepped even closer so that he was at arm's reach from the wall. Some other photographs covered the gold stain and he carefully removed them, exposing another photograph, an old one. It was of him, about the age of twelve. Yes… it was him in a place he didn't know-he had no idea when it was taken- and on his left stood another boy-Sasuke realized that the golden stain was the boy's hair- with cerulean eyes and the brightest smile he'd ever seen. And as he stared at the photo with eyes wide open Sasuke just knew exactly who that kid was.

.o.O.O.o.

I'm back! Finally! I know it's been a long time since my last update and I'm sorry. So I've finished my year of national service and I'm free! Kind of…am about to start my graphic design course AND my Japanese course. Tough. I hope you liked this chapter (I did :D) anyway, I'd appreciate it if u R\R.

~chu~

hairom


	9. Maybe I want You

I've been gone for nearly a year, I know. I'm horrible, I know. sorry and thank you.

This chapter probably would have still been in progress for even longer if not for xXVioletRibbonXx who reminded me that there's still a little fanfic here which needs some attention. So thank you xXVioletRibbonXx, this chapter wouldn't have been finished without your encouragement. It's dedicated to you.

_chapter 9 - Maybe I Want You_

.o.O.O.o.

Gaara absolutely hated this school. He couldn't put his finger on exactly why he hated it so much, though. It was prestigious and modern and there were lots of advanced subjects to for him to take. But there was just...something that didn't feel right to him. Naruto told him it was probably because Leaf Academy was still better than Haki. Maybe, Gaara didn't really care.

Naruto seemed to have fitted in almost perfectly, but then again, it was always like this with Naruto. He was just so friendly and... well, nice. But Gaara knew, though, that Naruto was hiding his true feelings from the world. If Gaara hadn't known Naruto so well, he would've fallen for that stupid goofy smile, like the everyone else. Naruto may believe he had fooled Gaara, but Gaara knew the truth. Naruto was miserable, and he missed Sasuke terribally. Although, he would never admit it, not aloud at least, and not to anyone. Gaara himself, didn't miss Leaf Academy at all. Sure, it was better than Haki in almost every way, but he didn't miss it. And he surely didn't miss that stupid Hyuuga.

He thought about him, though. Almost all the fucking time. He still found it hard to believe that the other boy had said... what he had said to Gaara. Gaara couldn't even bring himself to _think_ those words. What the hell had happened then? Memories of that day kept flooding his mind, frustrating him, making him so angry and wanting so badly to go kill the Hyuuga boy. He was just... unbelievable. Unfortunatle for Gaara he could only do so much and so he was stuck with unwated memories untill time would make them fade away. He had no intention to ever see Hyuuga Neji again, not if he had a say in the matter.

Naruto tried to talk to him, convince him that he didn't have to transfer too, but Gaara heard nothing of it. there was no way he was letting Naruto go without him, not when Naruto was so vulnerable. Yes, he had told Neji that Naruto was much more dangerous than himself, but only because Naruto's ability to control his demon was so unstable and fragile. With Naruto you could never know what tomoroow will bring. Besides that, Gaara had no reason to stay in Leaf. Actually he had a reason to leave. Hyuuga Neji. If there was a person Gaara was terrified of (aside from a demon-possesed Naruto) it was Hyuuga Neji. That boy simply terrified him and it was silly, really, because Gaara was much stronger than him.

Hyuuga Neji had the one thing in the whole world Sabaku Gaara was afraid of.

~O~O~O~O~

Naruto could feel eyes boring holes into the back of his head and he turned around. There. It was that pretty boy again, looking at him and smirking-smirking! It was his third day in Haki Academy and Naruto managed to fit in rather ok. the other students were nice enough and even though he hasn't made any particular friends yet, he was doing alright. There was this one guy, though. Naruto first saw him on his second day at Haki and had though he was a girl! he had such a pretty face! his nose was small, but not too small, and his beautiful hazelnut eyes were framed by long thick lashes. His dark brown hair reached just bellow his shoulder and he let it loose to hang freely on his shoulders. The boy seemed to notice Naruto too and he had arched one long brow before sending him a smile. Naruto returned a hesitant smile and that was it. They hadn't spoken to each other yet but today Naruto thought something might happen.

And he was right. The boy approached their table and gave Naruto a bright smile. "Hi," he said and without waiting for an invitation, sat down in front of Naruto. Gaara shot him a glare but said nothing.

"Hi," Naruto replied with a smile.  
"I'm Haku. Nice to meet you." Naruto took the offered hand. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto. This is Sabaku Gaara," he gestured to Gaara. Gaara ignored them both. "He's really a nice guy," Naruto smiled, afraid that Haku might run away at Gaara's glare. Haku laughed and it was melodious and Naruto liked it immediately. "I have no doubt," Haku said amicably and Naruto heaved a sigh of relief. "So, you're new here, aren't you?" Haku asked.  
"Yes. This is actually our third day." Naruto answered.  
"Do you like it here?"  
"I don't know yet," Naruto said truthfully. "It seems rather nice." Haku laughed. "I hate this place," he told them. At Naruto surprised look he chuckled. "I've been here for two long years and I still don't like it. I guess I just still miss my old school," he said. Naruto could relate to that. Well, he didn't really miss Leaf Academy, rather he missed the few friends he had made there, but it was probably what Haku had meant. Haku seemed to notice the look on his face because his expression softened and he said: "You feel the same, don't you?" Naruto nodded and looked away. "It gets better in time," Haku went on and Naruto chanced a glance at the boy. He was smiling softly and Naruto couldn't help but smile back. "I think so," he added and Naruto laughed. "That's reassuring," he said sarcastically and Haku gave a lop-sided grin. "You won't go mental, that's for sure," he said and made Naruto laugh again. It was so good! It's been a really long time since he had laughed like that, and there really wasn't anything that funny about the situation. But Haku, there was just something about the guy that made Naruto let himself put aside all his worries and just live the moment. Maybe it was Haku's confident smile, or his bright eyes that seemed to be filled with kindness like none other. Maybe it was a combination of both, Naruto had no idea, but it didn't matter, not really, because he was laughing again and it felt incredible. Naruto nearly forgot how good it felt to laugh like that, so free and careless.  
"You should laugh more often," Haku said suddenly. "It's nice." And Naruto felt bubbles of laughter already forming inside of him, making him truly happy for the first time in a very long time.

~O~O~O~O~

"Sasuke, what the hell is wrong with you?" Sakura didn't add '-kun' which meant she was really upset. And if she was that upset it meant he was very obvious.  
"What makes you think there's anything wrong with me Sakura?" he asked, more irritated with himself than with her.  
"Please, right now you're the epitome of distress. So what's wrong?"

School has ended not long ago and because he had nothing better to do, Sasuke agreed to stay after school and let Sakura paint his portrait again. He was pretty reluctant, but Sakura had knew what to use against him.

As he sat there on a stool, in the middle of the Art Club room, he supposed it wasn't so bad after all. He could think in that time, and he had a lot to think about. Mostly, it was about Naruto. He didn't miss the guy, at least not yet, but Naruto was almost a permanent thought in his mind. What is Naruto doing right now? Does Naruto think about him? Does he miss him? Is he having fun? Every other thought was about Naruto and it was driving Sasuke crazy. Never before had something like that happened to him and he certainly hoped it would never happen again.

"So, Sasuke-kun," Sakura suddenly said, startling him from his thoughts. "Have you talked to Naruto yet?"  
"No." Of course, she didn't know the real reason why Naruto left Leaf. She believed to some cover-up story Naruto fed her, about Gaara not liking it at Leaf and his older sister wanting him close to her. She didn't pry, even if she didn't believe it whole-heartedly, and that was probably why she was nagging to Sasuke now.  
"No?"  
"No."

Sakura heaved a dramatic sigh and put down her pencil. "Boys are so stupid sometimes," she said. Sasuke watched her as she pulled closer a nearby stool and sat on it, exactly in front of him. Oh no, he thought, here comes the talk. He hated the 'talks'. Sakura ignored his glare and took his hand in her. Her hand was small and delicate, an artisan's hands.

"Sasuke, what are you afraid of?"  
"Why do you think I'm afraid?" he replied.  
"You are. You know, no one will think of you as less of a man if you admit that you're afraid." she said, ignoring his question. The audacity!  
"I am not afraid Sakura," he answered. Maybe, if he showed her how well he was handling her prying, she'd see he's a big boy and let him be.

No such luck.

"You like Naruto, don't you?"  
"What?" at that Sakura grinned in triumph. "Ha!" she cried joyously. "You do! You do! You do!" and she went on laughing and pinching his cheeks, which really annoyed Sasuke.

"And here I was thinking you've matured somewhat," he said dryly. She grinned at him. "Oh my god, you fancy him! You really do!" her eyes were wide with amazement and all of a sudden she planted a kiss on his cheek. "Lucky for me I got over my crush on you," she said and he shot her another glare. But Sakura was a brave girl and big bad monsters like Uchiha Sasuke didn't scare her at all. "Aww poor Sasuke is so confused! You're so cute when you sulk like that!"  
Sasuke became more annoyed with every second that passed. "Is there a point to you harrassing me?" he asked, rather fearing the answer.  
"So you don't deny it?" she asked, still grinning like a madwoman. Sasuke said nothing but he could feel the blush oh his cheeks.  
"You don't," she said softly, and she sat back down on her stool. "So what happened? he rejected you?" Sasuke snorted as if the idea was too absurd to even laugh at. Which kind of was. "As if," he said and glared here, mad that she could even suggest such a stupid idea. Sakura was patient and she said nothing, giving him time to relax. But Sasuke said no more after that and Sakura sighed in exasperation. "What is wrong Sasuke?" she asked again but this time there was some annoyance in her tone. Sasuke wondered the same thing. What the hell was wrong with him? Why couldn't he get Naruto out of his damned system? Who was Naruto really? Why did Sasuke have his photograph? Why did he have this burning urge to leave Leaf and go to Haki? Why did he so achingly wanted to make Naruto come back?

He had no answers and quite frankly, he was afraid to have them.

.o.O.O.o.

A/N: Long time no see! Yes I know, I'm awful. But for the record I'm truly. As xXVioletRibbonXx kindly reminded me, I haven't updated in almost a year, which is horribly sad. And I feel like I owe you an explanation, so:

My sister's computer, the old one on which I saved all my documents, completely broke down because it's sooo old and has such little storage space left in it. We still haven't fixed it, but about a week ago my sister came back home from her boarding school for summer vacation and she managed to run the machine. I quickly transfered all my documents to my other sister's new computer (no I don't own one of my own). Then when I read the draft again, I was so disappointed in it I rewrote everything! trust me when I say this result is way better than the first one.

so I hoped you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed rewriting it.


	10. Sunshine of Mine

This chapter introduces two new characters: Kurenai and Suigetsu. They don't have major roles here but they are important. They both have something to do with Sai *wink*  
Anyway, here is another chapter, I hope you'll like it!

* * *

_chapter 10 - Sunshine of Mine_

.o.O.O.o.

Tsunade loved to cook. She didn't always do it, Shizune did, but she loved occupying herself with cooking from time to time. Right now she was in the middle of blending flour, sugar, butter and eggs together. Those were going to be pancakes for her dear kids. Kids that weren't kids anymore, really. She smiled, remembering each and every moment with her kids. There were many hard times and she had had to soothe pained and broken hearts more than once, wipe tears from a child's eye and plant a messy head with loving kisses. But there were also good times, filled with laughter and sparkling eyes, the sound of little feet rushing and unxepected embraces from tiny arms. She wouldn't trade that for anything in the world.

"Tsunade-sama," Shizune came in, eyeing Tsunade with sceptic eyes. "Are you... baking?"

"As a matter of fact I am." Tsunade replied smugly. Shizune let it go. She knew Tsunade was stubborn, nearly as stubborn as Naruto sometimes, and if she decided she wanted to cook, there was no changing her mind. But her attempts at cooking were rather disastrous so far. She didn't say a word, though. As much as she loved the children and cared for them, Shizune still cherished her life.

"So, what is it?" Tsuande asked, removing a strand of hair behind her ear. Shizune pulled a chair and took a seat. "Is it about Naruto?" Tsunade was worried about him. Ever since that incident at the mall with the Uchiha brat, Naruto has become somewhat withdrawn. He asked to transfer to a different school and she understood him. She herself thought it would be for the best. And yet... Naruto was withdrawn.

Shizune shook her head. "Actually," she said, frowning, "it's about Gaara." Tsunade turned to her sharply. "Gaara?" she asked, truly alarmed. "What happened?" Shizune was quick to assure her it was nothing serious. "It's just that, this morning, someone called, asking to speak with Gaara," she explained. Tsunade visibly relaxed. "And?" she asked. Shizune blinked. "Gaara-kun never gets phone calls unless they're from us," she reminded her but Tsunade's glare was hard and she quickly continued. "The guy sounded very... I don't know how to put it. He sounded kind of... desperate." Tsunade said nothing. It was true that Gaara has never recieved phone calls from anyone who wasn't living in this household, beside who did he have that would call him? He never made friends, not even tried to. But Tsunade always hoped that maybe he had formed some bonds with other teenagers his age, without her knowing. But who was so desperate to speak to him? "Did he identify himself?" she asked. "Yes. He said his name was Hyuuga Neji."

"Hyuuga? Hyuuga Hiashi's son?"

"I don't think so. Hiashi has only two daughters."

"So, what was that all about?"

"He asked to speak with Gaara," Shizune told her. "I told him Gaara was at school (and reminded him that he should be there too) and he nearly started crying right there and then!" Really, it was still shocking and so unexpected. "He was really desperate, said he had to talk to Gaara and then scolded me for being so calm about it all!" Shizune laughed a little. "I wasn't calm, I'm telling you. But I told him to calm down and tell me what was wrong and he..." she trailed off, her eyes far away and contemplating.

"What? He what?" Tsunade demanded, quite afraid by then. What happened? What was wrong? Did Gaara do something? Did he get into another fight? But he hasn't for so long!

"He said he was in love with Gaara."

The spoon she was holding fell from Tsunade's hand and hit the floor with a loud metalic 'clank'. Now there was some flour on the floor, mixed with eggs and butter. Tsunade bent down to pick it up. "In love with Gaare?" she repeated quietly. Shizune nodded. "He said something... he said 'Gaara should stop being such a coward and face me' something like that. He asked me to tell him that."

Tsunade went back to her pancakes. Shizune watched her in silence, wondering what she'll do next. Tsunade cared for each one of her children as if she was the one who gave birth to them. And Gaara, like Naruto, was special.

"These are going to be awesome pancakes," Tsunade finally declared and Shizune watched as a smile began to form on her Boss's lips. Although, she wasn't quite sure about those pancakes. Tsunade suddenly laughed out joyfully and it seemed that it gave her motivation and she sprang to action. She stirred, blended, prepared a pan and soon the pancakes were ready. They smelled rather good, Shizune admitted. "And now," Tsunade turned to her and there was that look of determination in her eyes that Shizune had had the pleasure (or misfortune, depends on the situation) to see. "Hyuuga Neji is going to be my special guest for next week's event."

"Are you sure Tsunade-sama?" Tsunade smirked. "Yes." Oh yes. (Mon, Oct. 3)

~O~O~O~O~

"My name is Suigetsu. Hozuki Suigetsu." Sasuke examined the boy in front of him. He had bright eyes and bright lilac hair, almost white. He was the same height as Sasuke and wore simple but expensive clothes that seemed nearly colorless. But the thing that caight Sasuke's attention more than anything else was the guy's teeth; they were sharp and pointed, each one of them with no exception. The guy, Suigetsu, smiled and it made him look like a shark. Sasuke smirked, he liked his teeth. "Sasuke, Uchiha Sasuke." he introduced himself. If that guy was to be his partner, he better know Sasuke's name.

"And I'm Bond, James Bond." Sakura interjected and then laughed at their expressions. "That's how you two sounded!" she said. Sasuke ignored her and turned back to Suigetsu. "Are you any good?" he asked and recieved a sharp-toothed grin from Suigetsu. "I'm the best," Suigetsu declared. All Sasuke said was 'hn'.

Suigetsu was indeed very good. Sasuke wouldn't say he was the best, but he was better than most people. He had a huge sword, which he dragged into the room, and seemed too large and heavy for a guy like Suigetsu. Sasuke hadn't commented on it, though. He'd seen a lot of opponents who had surprised him by choosing weird weapons. Suigetsu's sword wasn't really strange, just too large for him.

And Sasuke thought it was a good thing that he had kept his mouth shut because, suddenly, Suigetsu hoisted the huge sword to his left shoulder as if it were nothing but a wooden stick and gave Sasuke a cocky smirk, which Sasuke glared to. Sasuke's attention, by then, was fully focused on the pale-haired boy and his too-large sword.

Their battle began with Suigetsu's first attack. He lifted his sword and launched himself at Sasuke, aiming for his chest. Alarmed, Sasuke blocked the attack with his own sword, Sword of Kusanagi, and launched an attack of his own.

Suigetsu's movements were fluid and he was very agile. He moved as if he had no weight at all, flowing around like water and attacking from different angles. His movementss weren't like Sasuke's graceful but deadly cat-like movements but more like the flow of water; sometimes slow and gentle and other times wild and raging like waterfalls. It caused Sasuke such a thrill that his own movements became more serious and intense.

But hard as he tried, and he did, Suigetsu couldn't beat Sasuke. For every attack of his, Sasuke had a counter-attack, and it seemed like Sasuke knew every move he was going to make, as if he could see not one but ten steps ahead of Suigetsu. And the way he moved! So elegant and graceful yet deadly. All of his movements were swift and acurrate, fast and yet forceful. He was like a warrior; powerful but restrained.

"You gave us a good fight Sasuke," Suigetsu bowed respectfully to the one who has just defeated him. He was being honest. "It's been a long time since Kubikiribocho and I have enjoyed a fight so much." He smiled at his large sword his toothy smile.

"I ebjoyed it too," Sasuke said truthfully. Sakura came in a few seconds later with glasses of cold water. They accepted them glady. Suigetsu seemed more than relieved after drinking the water and freshening up. He put down his Kubikiribocho and took off his sicky shirt. Sasuke did the same and soon they were sitting peacefully on the floor, watching the green yard out the doors that Sakura had kindly slid open for them sometime earlier.

It was cloudy outside and grey, a weather fit for autumn. The ground was covered with golden-brown leaves, soft autumn breeze swirling them playfully.

"Man I hate autumn," Suigetsu said and crinkled his nose in distaste. "It makes me uneasy." Sasuke said nothing, He wasn't one to talk much and besides, he had no idea what say. Thankfully, it seemed like Suigetsu wasn't expecting a reply. "Summer's great! Going to the beach and flirting with all those girls in bikini..." he trailed off and then laughed. "Wait, don't tell me," he told Sasuke, "you hate summer, don't you?" Sasuke's reply was a traditional 'hn'. Suigetsu laughed more. "Man I knew it! You're so gloomy Uchiha. Add some sunshine to your life, won't you?"

Sunshine. Sasuke didn't want to think of sunshine or sun. He tried to avoid those kind of thoughts all day! He probably should've known that they were inevitable. After all, someone was bound to mention the weather sometime. Jeez, he hated thinking too much, but unfortunately he was a person who always thought too much.

"Do you guys have popsicles around here?"

The question was so unexpected that Sasuke had to blink and look at Suigetsu's face to be sure that he heard right. "Popsicles?" he repeated. Suigetsu grinned. "Yeah, popsicles. There's no better weather to eat popsicles than this one!" he declared. Sasuke couldn't see the logic in it all, because really, why would anyone want to eat a popsicle in such a cold weather? But he refrained from saying anything. Sometimes it was better to keep your thoughts to yourself. "I don't think so," he said dryly. "Oh well," Suigetsu shrugged, not too bothered. "I'll just have to make some myself when I get to my room."

Suigetsu was a transfer student from Kirigakure, along with twenty other students. They were given rooms in Leaf's dormitories and were to live there for a period of six months. Suigetsu was chosen to be Sasuke's partner.

"Why don't you join us today Suigetsu?" once again Sakura popped behind them. She smiled at Suigetsu who looked from her to Sasuke and smiled too. "Why, thank you Haruno-san, I'd love to!" he replied. Sasuke rolled his eyes but said nothing. He didn't really care who went out with them, he didn't even really want to go out with the guys but Sakura was persistent and very persuasive and in the end Sasuke had decided that resisting just wasn't worth the energy wasted on it.

Suigetsu watched Sasuke and smirked to himself. Sasuke was a very fun person.

~O~O~O~O~

Sasuke found Sai in his usual position; seated on a stool in front of a large canvas. The canvas itself was blank and Sai sat there just staring outside the window, a pencil in his hand. Sometimes Sasuke thought Sai's mind was as blank as his canvas but then he would pick up a pencil and start painting and prove to everyone that his mind was far from blank.

The problem was, Sai's expressions were always, _always_, blank. It was as if his face didn't know any other expression and it made it so much harder to understand Sai. It was enough that he was different from others in more things than one. When he was a baby, barely a year, his parents went to see a doctor about their son's lack of response to his surrounding. At first they had thought he was deaf but after some examinations and tests it was proved that he was perfectly healthy. The doctors then said he was autistic and that was why he wasn't responding to people. "Autists are disconnected from the world and people. They live in a world of their own and react only to certain things that they find interesting enough." That's what Sai's parents were told.

Sasuke, however, suspected that it was all Sai's way to escape high expectations for him. And it was really a clever isea. With you being an autist, no one would ever expect you to do things you don't want to, or force you to make difficult decisions. Because really, who would ever do that to an autistic person? But then again, Sasuke didn't think that someone could pull the act for so long (seventeen years were too long for it to be an act). Anyone would go crazy sooner or later.

"Sai," Sasuke called the boy but received no reactiong from his cousin. He had expected much and tried again. Sai's family was forced to learn patience thanks to him, it was one of the ups in the whole autist issue. "Sai," he said again and slowly Sai turned to look at him. His black eyes were blank as was his whole expression but Sasuke knew better.

"Sasuke," came Sai's montone greeting. He put down the pencil. Sasuke thought it was an improvement, really. Sai wasn't stupid, on the contrary; he was extremely smart and like all Uchihas he was considered a genius. He could solve the most difficult math problems in a matter of minutes, sometimes even seconds, and he had Eidetic Memory, or in other words- photographic memory. He could quote entire pages from History book word by word without even struggling! But that was it. Sai was a genius but his social skills were close to nonexistent.

"Sai, It's time to go." Sasuke said softly. Sai said nothing and simply picked up his pencil again and began drawing random lines on the blank canvas. Sasuke was sure it would become another great work of art but they really needed to go. Sasuke gently put his hand on Sai's shoulder, receiving a startled reaction from the boy. "We have to go Sai," he repeated patiently. "It's time for you session with Kurenai." Sai seemed to finally accept his words and he got off his stool. Sasuke offered him his jacket and surveyed the room one last time before they left. Sai's room was as tidy as always. The soft baby-blue painted walls gave off the serene atmosphere Sai needed so much and on them were hung some of Sai's works; framed and cherished.

"Today is Itachi's turn," Sai told him when they left the house. Sasuke was well aware of them. Itachi and Sasuke took turns in taking Sai to Kurenai and this week was indeed Itachi's turn. But Sasuke had nothing else to do after finishing all his homeworks and Itachi wanted so much to spend some time with Deidara, so Sasuke agreed to take Sai.

"I know," he replied, "But he had something to do with Deidara. I don't mind."

"Yes you do." Sai didn't look at him.

"Why do you think so?" Sasuke asked, curious. Sai had the uncanny ability to know exactly what people were feeling. Unfortunately he rarely shared it with other people.

Sai shrugged and Sasuke was reminded of the first time Sai had ever shrugged. It was a long time ago and it was so strange and funny in a way. Sai had simply mimicked Sasuke's gestures back then and it seemed he liked that particular gesture.

"I really don't mind," Sasuke insisted but he knew he wasn't being entirely truthful. And he knew Sai knew that.

A car was waiting for them near the gates and they got in. After a fifteen minute drive they reached Kurenai's house. She lived in a white-picket-fence house in a neighborhood on the south end of Konoha.

Yuhi Kurenai greeted them with a warm smile and ushered them to get inside. Once inside her cozy house Sasuke took off his jacket and settles on the sofa. There was nothing much for him to do here except to wait for the session to be over. Usually, Kurenai and Sai would sit at the dining table and Sasuke would listen and wait patiently. Sometimes he would look at some magazines or read a book that Kurenai would give him. She usually gave him good ones, not that he was a person who read much, though.

"I want Sasuke to sit here Yuhi-san," Sai's voice made Sasuke jerk his head from the magazine he was reading. He was sure he shared the same look of confusion as Kurena's.

"What?" Sasuke asked.

"Of course, Sai, I see no problem why not actually," Kurenai said.

And so Sasuke found himself watching close up while Sai answered some questions on a paper like: _'why is a handshake important?' _Or, _'match the feeling with the expression' _(above a series of faces showing different expressions and the names of the feelings below them), and _'write down the names of three people that make you happy' _and beside it there was a smiling face. Sai had some diffuculties , of course. He found it hard to explain why a handshake was important and stared blankly at the paper. He Knew some expression (like happy and sad) and could match them easily with the right feelings but there were more expression he hadn't recognized, like 'disgusted', 'discouraged', 'smirking' or 'conniving'.

Through it all Kurenai helped him. She asked him guiding questions that would help him reach the answer on his own and encouraged him patiently and kindly. Sasuke was amazed by two things: first, that he had no idea how difficult it was for Sai to answer such rather simple questions, that for Sai it was no laughing matter. And second, that Kurenai was such a good person. She had such a kind heart and so much patience! Sasuke tried to imagine himself in her place and just couldn't. In every scene he ended up giving up or having a fatal breakdown. Some questions were so silly it nearly drove him insane to watch Sai struggle with them so much. But he kept quiet and often tried to help.

It was half an hour later when Sai put down the pen he was holding and turned blank eyes at Kurenai and Sasuke. "I want Sasuke to do this too," he said and somehow the tone of his voice left no room for argument. It was one of those times in which Sai became extremely serious and the tone of his voice became strong and authorative. It was also one of those times in which Sasuke knew he couldn't refuse.

"That's a good idea," Kurenai said softly and handed Sasuke a sheet of paper with the same questions as Sai's. "Go on Sasuke-kun," she urged him and Sasuke fought back the sigh that threatend to escape his mouth. The things he agreed to do for his family...

_'Who are you?' _Sasuke wrote down his name.  
_'Match the feeling with the expression'_ Sasuke drew lines from each face to the right word.  
_'Write down names of three people that make you happy'_ At this, Sasuke hesitated. Kurenai noticed that he stopped writing and looked at him, questioning him with her eyes.

Sasuke Thought about the question. Who made him feel happy? Like, really happy? Maybe his parents... but they were dead so could he write their names? Well there was Itachi and while Sasuke admitted the his brother made him somewhat happy and loved he didn't think he should write his name. Or maybe he should? Sasuke shrugged and wrote down Itachi's name. Two more to go. So who else made him happy? There were his friends, Neji and Sakura, but while Sakura was ok and Neji was somewhat annoying, both didn't make him too happy. Sure, he liked them to some extent and enjoyed their company more than others in his age, otherwise he wouldn't have befriended them, but they didn't make him feel extremely happy.

"Yuhi-san," Sai voice once again broke Sasuke's train of thoughts. "Sasuke thinks too much," Sai said and cocked his head to look at Sasuke. Sasuke thoguht it amusing. Him, thinking too much? as if hearing his thoughts Sai nodded his head. "Yes. Sasuke thinks too much. You have many people that make you happy," he said and caused both Kurenai and Sasuke raise eyebrows in surprise. "Like who exactly?" Sasuke demanded. To that Sai merely shrugged and said: "I don't know."

Kurenai watched it all in silence. Sai was a very smart kid despite what most people thought. She believed, no, she _knew_ he was smarter than most people. Everyone thought Sai had no social skills at all and had no idea how to interact with other people. Kurenai didn't say this was wrong, Sai did have some difficulties with socializing with people, but she believed it was not for the reason everyone thought. Sai was not stupid, nor was he anti-social. Kurenai believed that the boy wanted to make friends, to open up. But his mind was so full of knowledge of the world and the people in it that it alienates him. He reads people so accurately-he read her once like an open book!- that it just served to strengthen her theory. And now Kurenai could see that Sai had planned something. Sai was always thinking of something. She knew there was not a moment when his mind wasn't occupied with one thought or another. She realized just then that Sai nust have wanted Sasuke to answer the questions for some reason. And as she examined Sasuke it all suddenly became somewhat clearer. She smiled.

"Sasuke-kun," she said softly, drawing said boy's attention. Sasuke turned to looked at her.

"It's ok," she said. "Sometimes that person comes later in our lives, and other times we just don't realize that that person is already right beside us. It might take some time, but you'll find them eventually."

~O~O~O~O~

Neji stared at his phone. A number he didn't recognized was shown on the screen. Should he answer it? Without thinking much he did.

"Hello?" he said. The voice that naswered him belonged to a woman and by the way she spoke Neji knew she was not a person to mess with people, or to be messed with.

"Hyuuga Neji?" the woman demanded.

"Yes, speaking," he answered.

"Good." The woman paused for a moment. "My name is Senju Tsunade." Neji nearly made a flip back to that. Senju Tsunade? The great Senju Tsunade? Head of KMC? What did she want with him? Was it maybe about Gaara? Was she going to tell him to stop calling Gaara? He could bet his most precious belonging on that.

"Senju-sama," he said, not hiding his surprise. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" Neji heard her snort in what sounded like amusement.

"I hardly think me calling you would cause you such pleasure Hyuuga," she said and Neji almost sniggered. Almost. "I am sure you think you know why I'm calling you," she continued and suddenly Neji could feel his heart skipping a beat. So he was right... "I don't-" he started but she cut him off. "Oh don't be a sissy Hyuuga," she told him, once again highly amused. Neji, for the life of him, couldn't see what was so amusing. He scoffed and, as if she could see him, the woman laughed. "You have nothing to worry about Hyuuga," she said after relaxing somewhat. "I merely want to invite you to my son's birthday party."

"Gaara's?" Neji asked and then realized how eager he sounded. He blushed when Tsunade laughed once again. "No, Naruto's. But I'll be sure to invite you to Gaara's birthday too," she said and her tone told him that she knew more than he would like.

So, Naurot's birthday was coming up... suddenly Neji smirked.

"Of course Senju-sama," he told her. "When would that be?"

"October 10, next monday at six," She gave him the address and added "arrive half an hour earlier. It's going to be a surprise party."

"I will," he said and was about to hang up when she stopped him. "Do not bring your Uchiha friend with you Hyuuga. Am I clear?" Neji was surprised, and somewhat anxious. This woman was definitely not a person he wanted to mess with.

"I won't," he promised. Tsunade bid him good bye and the conversation was over.

Not to bring Sasuke? Did she dislike him that much? Or could it be Gaara's request? It could be, after all Gaara despised Sasuke.

Whatever, he thought. He himself was going to have a good time. A very good time.

.o.O.O.o.

* * *

A/N: I don't know much about autism and its syptoms (?). However I do know some things and some of them I've put into this chapter. It's not academic knowledge but it will do. I have this friend who's obsessed with Asperger Syndrome which is an autism spectrum disorder and she works with kids who have autism. Anyhow, Sai has autism, but it's not severe. He's just too smart, and his brain is so full of information that it makes his way of thinking entirely different from the rest of the world's. I love Sai :)

- HairoM


	11. Cherish These Memories

Hey! Another chapter is finished! Thank you so much for reading! I hope you'll enjoy this chapter, 'cause I enjoyed writing it :)

p.s. please don't kill me for any grammar/spelling mistakes. I'm tired!

* * *

_chapter 11 - Cherish These Memories_

.o.O.O.o.

Deidara smiled at the crowd and gave them a final bow. "Thank you everyone!" he called and the crowd went ecstatic. Behind him, Sasori played the final notes of the song on the keyboard. Someone threw a flower at Konan, and Kisame waved to a screaming fan. Deidara had eyes for one person only, though. His blue eyes scanned the front rows for one pair of black eyes. He found them there, a little to the left of the stage, staring at him with pride, and some amusement. He huffed but smiled immediately. 'I love you,' the owner of the eyes mouthed to him. Deidara sent him a kiss and chuckled in amusement as some girls squeaked in delight.

"Itachi-san is here!" Konan told him later when they were back in their dressing rooms. Itachi stepped in, giving them all a warm smile. "Hi guys," he said.  
"Itachi, good to see you again man!" Kisame cried and walked over to pat Itachi on the shoulder. "Good to see you to Kisame," Itachi replied truthfully. It really was nice to see them all again.  
"Hey you," Itachi smirked at Deidara. "Are you talking to me sir?" Deidara stared at him in mock confusion. "I think so, unless you know of any other Deidaras around here, I'd love to meet them." Itachi replied and earned himself a soft punch on the arm. Deidara leaned forward to give him a gentle kiss.

"Geez, find a room, will ya?" Kisame barked and turned away. It filled the room with laughter.

"So, how is Sasuke-kun?" asked Deidara when they were all back on the tour bus and he was settled in Itachi's lap, the man's arms embracing him. "He's still as stubborn as a mule." Deidara laughed softly at that. "Well, he's your brother," he reminded his lover. "Are we that much alike?" Itachi wondered truthfully. Deidara smiled. "Well, there are certain aspects in which you are very similar. Your stubborness, for example."

"Is that so?" Itachi asked, amused. "What else, blondie?"  
"Well, you're both very ambitious, and... I have a feeling Sasuke-kun is as possessive as you if not more." Itachi groaned. "Don't get me started on his possessiveness," he grunted. "It used to be much worse when he was younger, but even now he's unbearable, sometimes." Deidara chuckled but Itachi ignored him. "Now he's got this kid he likes but he has no idea that he does and it's annoying really."  
"Just like you," Deidara commented and earned himself a raised eyebrow. "What are you talking about?" Itachi asked, teasing. "I knew I liked you the moment I first saw you." To that Deidara snorted and rested his head on Itachi's shoulder. "God, you used to be so annoying, Itachi."  
"Funny, I remember you being the annoying one. You tried so hard to beat me at everything and you used to be so loud..." Itachi made a pained expression, teasing Deidara. "Hey!" Deidara exclaimed, "I was not loud! And I definitely did not try to beat you at everything!"

"You keep telling that to yourself blondie."

~O~O~O~O~

Neji was lost. He stood in his room, staring at his cellphone and not knowing what to do. His hair was pulled up to a high ponytail and he was wearing some faded jeans and a loose T-shirt. His feet were bare, liking the feeling of the cold gloor against his skin.

His dilemma, in truth, began two days ago, when Naruto's mom had told him about Naruto's birthday and forbid him from bringing Sasuke with him. At that moment, Neji knew he had to deal with the problem, he just didn't want to deal with it right then. Now he was stuck with his phone in his hand no idea what to do.

Tsunade had told him not to bring Uchiha Sasuke. But Neji was his friend, right? And Neji knew Sasuke felt something for Uzumaki Naruto, right? And since Neji was Sasuke's friend, he couldn't not tell him about the party, right? Tsunade's strict voice rang in his head. Maybe, he shouldn't tell Sasuke about it after all. Maybe he should just leave things the way they are, without changing the course of fate. But the again, maybe he wanted to change the course of fate. Finally, Neji made up his mind.

Sasuke's voice was as stoic as ever, almost as is the guy could anticipate anything that was going to happen and therefore could never be surprised.

"Yes Hyuuga."

Neji snorted.

"Very interesting Hyuuga." Neji almost rolled his eyes. Almost.

"I have something to tell you," Neji informed him. "Naruto's birthday is on MOnday next week, October the 10th."

"And?" Came Sasuke irritated question. Neji felt like punching the guy. Acting as if he didn't give a damn when Neji knew all too well that he did.

"And you're not invited."

"Thank you."

"But I can give Naruto your present." There was silence on the other side. And then Neji heard something peculiar. Sasuke laughed. It wasn't warm and happy, it was cold and humourless, but it was a laugh nonetheless.

"You're funny, Neji," he said. He called him by his first name. Was it a good idea to try and change the course of fate after all? "I'll see what I can do." And with that, Sasuke hung up, leaving Neji to, once again, stare at his phone in amazement. What was Sasuke up to?

~O~O~O~O~

His birthdays were a constant reminder to him.

Sometimes, most of the time, Naruto forgot how his parents had looked like. He would close his eyes and furrow his eyebrows and would try to remember their faces. Each passing year it became harder and harder to remember, so he cherished every memory of them.  
Sometimes he had flashbacks of them, of the past. A glipmse of warm brown eyes, a flash of a wide smile. Sometimes even words; whispered lovingly, wrapping him securely in their softness and caring.

His father, this he could not forget, had looked just like Naruto himself-blond hair, only slightly softer than his son's, and blue eyes. Sometimes, in his dreams, Naruto remembered his voice, soft yet strong and firm. Or was it really his memory? Sometimes Naruto believed it was merely his mind giving him what he craved so much. He faintly remembered, however, his father's hugs and loving hand on his shoulder or head, messing his hair playfully. He was a tall man and Naruto had looked up to him. He wanted to be just like his father when he grew up.

There was also his mother, of whom he could remember more. She had red-brown hair, long and soft, and warm brown eyes with the softest expression in them. He could still remember her contagious bubbly laugh which was just like his, and the way her dimples deepend when she smiled. She had smiled and laughed a lot, it was in her nature. He remembered her embraces and loving kisses, her soft calming voice when he was upset or sad over something stupid and trivial. She knew how to calm him down and make him forget what he was upset about. When he looked back at those times so long ago, Naruto saw just how much she loved him. She had a way of knowing all the little things that he liked or hated, what made him laugh like crazy and what gave him motivation and will. Mothers, he had decided long ago, were something else.

His birthdays were always there to remind him of his parents and cosnequently of his twin sister.

His twin was someone he could and would never forget, not in a million years. She was him and he was her, but they were separate beings. Naruto couldn't explain it. They were so alike yet there were no other two people more different than one another. Whilst Naruto was the exact replica of his father (in appearance) his twin looked just like their mother. She had the same reddish brown hair and the same brown eyes and even the same hyper personality. If people thought Naruto was hyper- which he quite was- it was because they never met his sister. She took 'hyperactive' to whole new levels. Naruto remembered fondly her restlessness and constant urge to always be occupied. There was never a dull moment with her.

She was named Kyuubi after the very same demon that resided inside her brother. Naruto didn't know, though, just why his parents gave her that name. Her namesake was an evil demon, perhaps the most evil of them all, and there was no possibilty that it would bring her any good. In fact, there were times, when he was very upset and sad, that Naruto really blamed his parents and the damned demon for his sister's death. He knew, of course, that it was ridiculous and childish but he could help but think that hadn't they never named her Kyuubi, she would've still be alive. Once he told this to Gaara and he had hit him. Naruto smiled fondly as he remembered that day.

The sickness which caused her death was a mystery to him. No one had bothered telling him what was wrong with her, probably thinking that it would be too much for a young kid like him. So Naruto could only watch while his siter slowly became thinner and paler than a ghost. With pained awareness he watch his sister turn from a healthy and hyperactive girl into a scrawny fragile creature that had no strength to carry itself on its own. He had felt so useless and miserable. He wanted to do something for her but all he could do was hold her tiny hand in his.

That year had seemed to Naruto like the longest in his short life. His sister was dying and he could only watch. It was much worse than losing his parents, because this time he knew it was coming. With his parents it had been so sudden and unexpected! This time it was slow and agonizing and he was a witness to every step of the whole ordeal. He remebered crying at nights when the realization had finally hit him that his sister was going to die. He cried, but there was no one there to comfort him, no one to hold him and assure him that it was all lies. He was merely five years old going on five and he had been so scared!

Kyuubi died that year. It was the middle of summer, the air hot and humid as was typical to the islands in Wave, and the sky so blue it was almost offensive. Naruto remembered that at that time he hadn't paid much attention to the weather. All he had been able to think of was that hole in the ground and the simple wooden coffin that was slowly lowered into that dark pit. His vision was blurred by tears but there was nothing else he could do. Looking back now at that day, he thought one year wasn't enough to say good-bye and he wondered if even all the time in the world would ever be enough for it.

His birthdays were a constant reminder of his past. And still, Naruto always anticipated them with excitement like a little kid. Yes, his past was painful and yes, he will forever bear the scars but tomorrow the sun will shine again, for sure.

And each year that passes he grows up a little more and those wounds of the past hurt a little less.

~O~O~O~O~

It wasn't that he didn't know, because Naruto knew about the 'surprise birthday party', he just didn't expect for so many people to come.  
There was a big sign hanging from the ceiling with the words 'HAPPY 18th BIRTHDAY NARUTO!" written in big bold orange letters and colorful balloons all over the house. A table was set in the middle of the dining room and on it a huge chocolate cake (because there was nothing like chocolate!) with one eighteen-shaped candle sticking on it.

Naruto grinned back at all the faces around him. When he had opened the door, he was expecting just his family but he was greeted with loud and cheerful 'happy birthdays' from faces he didn't think he'd see again.  
There was Sakura, pink hair gathered in a bun and a pink balloon in her hand, and there was Hanatsuki Ren(1) with his beautiful and shy chestnut eyes smiling at him. Aki(1) was right beside Ren, his arm around Ren's shoulders and he called 'happy birthday Uzumaki-kun'. Yuki(1) was there too, slightly to the side, with her usually blank eyes shining in mild happiness. Naruto smiled brightly at her. Haku was standing near Sakura, also holding a balloon. Neji and the timid Hinata were there too, each holding a wrapped present in their arms.  
His own family was there of course, all five of them along with the dear Shizune who probably was the one who baked the cake. Naruto felt all warm inside seeing them all there. His gaze wondered off to the side and then he noticed someone else.

Charcoal black hair and blank obsidian eyes that were staring at him.

Sai.

"Sempai!" Naruto greeted him warmly. "I'm so happy to see you here!" Sai's expressionless was gone in favor of an awkward smile, which probably was not seen much on that face. "Happy birthday Uzumaki-kun," Sai was as monotone as ever but Naruto didn't need more than that. Sai handed him a small parcel wrapped up in a beatiful paper with nebulas on it. "I hope you like it," he said and went to have himself something to drink. Naruto smiled at him and put the present along with the others on the table. He would open them later.

Gaara was responsible for the music, and he put some of Naruto's most favorite songs, Akatsuki amongst them. Ten-Ten was soon dancing to the music, dragging Sakura and Ren along with her and then it was most of them dancing and singing along.  
Naruto grasped Gaara's arm and pulled him to the temporary 'dance floor' (which was the living room floor) moving in accordance with the music. Gaara seemed reluctant but Naruto knew he enjoyed it. The truth was, Gaara was one of the best dancers Naruto had ever met and as the guests stared at him, Naruto assumed they thought the same. It was like Gaara's body was moving on its own. His movements were fluid and precise, not too much and not too little. It was seductive and yet seemed dangerous at the same time and his eys... Gaara's eyes shone with life whenever he danced.

They all watched Gaara in awe, but Naruto noticed one particular pair of pale eyes which their gaze was far more intense than the rest.

Naruto knew Hyuuga Neji had a crush on his brother, he just didn't know how big or serious it was. Neji's eyes were focused solely on Gaara, and Naruto watched as Neji suddenly made his way through the dancing people over to where Gaara was dancing. Gaara's expression was priceless when Neji began to move in accordance with him, their bodies fitting one another perfectly. Naruto laughed to himself, but the music was too loud for anyone else to hear. He watched in worry as Gaara suddenly stopped and tried to leave, but then (and Naruto heaved a sigh of relief) Neji caught him by the sleeve and pulled him back to him. Now Gaara was really reluctant but Neji began to move again and Gaara, suddenly, caught Naruto's amused look. He scowled at his brother but Naruto only gave him a grin in return. "Dance," he mouthed. Gaara gave him one last glare before sighing and than he began to dance once again. To say Neji was surprised would be an understatement because Neji was nearly stunned in place. However, he regained his composure very quickly, and as he moved his body in accordance with Gaara's, his eyes looked up and met Naruto's. "Thank you," he mouthed and Naruto gave him the thumbs up.

Time to eat Shizune's fabulous chocolate cake soon came and Naruto and all his family and gueests gathered around the table. Someone had lit the eighteen-shaped candle on top of the cake, and ten-Ten nudged Naruto to make a wish.

"Make a wish Naruto-kun!"  
"Wish for mom to buy me those awesome headphones I've been dreaming of!"  
"Ten-Ten!"  
"Go on Naruto-kun, make a wish!"

Naruto closed his eyes. Make a wish? What could he wish for? It was not arrogance that made him think that. Naruto was content with his life and what he had. Really, why shouldn't he be? He had a wonderful family and very nice friends. His grades in school were pretty good, and lived a very pretty house in a beautiful city. What more could he ask for? It was not arrogance, it was merely contentment and happiness.

A thought came to his mind and he let himself smile.

Please let me have the strength and courage to help other people have such happiness as mine.

He took a deep breath and let it out, blowing off the candle. Cheers and claps later Shizune was cutting the cake and soon they were all eating Suizune's heavenly cake.

"So what did you wish for, Nii-chan?" Ten-Ten asked curiously. Gaara smacked her head playfully and said: "he can't tell us, silly. It won't come true." There was a moment of silence in which everyone stared, shocked, at Gaara untill he was too annoyed by it and snapped: "what's your friggin problem?"

"We were just surprised that you still believe in those things." Neji had the pleasure of witnessing Gaara blush for the first time, and it made him want to make the other boy blush again. Only, he imagined a much different situation, with a big bed and clothes all over the floor and... well.

"Go fuck off."

"Gaara!"

They laughed heartily and enjoyed some more music and cake before it was finally time to open the presents.

They settled on the carpet in the living room and to Tsunade, and probably everyone else, Naruto seemed like a kid in christmas. Well Christmas is also a kind of birthday.

"Open mine first," Sakura said and pointed to a square flat box wrapped in a bright orange paper. Naruto already liked it. He gently tore open the paper to reveal a white box with a strange symobol on it's lid. Inside was a leather bracelet, a complex braid bracelet. Naruto took it out and with Sakura's help put it on. The light brown leather felt soft against his skin.

"It's beautiful," he said. "Thank you Sakura-chan!"

Next up was Gaara's present. It was wrapped with deep red paper, Gaara's favorite color. "A dagger," Gaara revealed stoically beofre Naruto even opened it. "Gaara!" Naruto whined, "you're supposed to let me find out for myself!" Gaara blinked at him, not getting the idea at all. "What's so fun about that?" he asked and Naruto sighed in defeat.

It was a dagger alright. The blade was the length of his palm and the handle-about ten centimeters. The blade was deep red, crimson, the color of blood and beautiful carvings adorned each side of. It was obviously meant for decoration only.

"Isn't it, like, dangerous?" Temari asked, glancing worriedly at Gaara who remained expressionless.

"Don't worry nee-can, I won't accidentally stab myself," Naruto assured her with a sheepish smile. Everybody knew Naruto was kind of a klutz.

"You're supposed to stab Uchiha with it."  
Silence. Everyone stared at Gaara. Naruto just stared at the dagger. More silence. Then suddenly Neji cracked up, infecting everyone else with his laugh and soon they were all laughing like they just heard the best joke to ever be told. Naruto wiped tears of laughter. "I'll be sure to consider it!" he told the scowling Gaara who didn't find anything amusing at all.

After that the ceremony of gift-opening was calmly resumed. Naruto received a cute T-shirt from Neji and a very cool and comfortable hoodie from Hinata, a new cool pair of boots from Ten-Ten, a very expensive set of watercolor brushes made of male sable fur(2) from Sai, a new pair of form fitting faded jeans from Ren and Aki, a very cute frog-shaped pouch from Yuki (she sewed it herself), a CD of Akatsuki's greatest hits from Haku, a book on design from Temari, three packs of condoms from Kankuro (which earned him a brutal smack on the head from Tsunade and caused Naruto to blush madly like the virgin he was), a soft wool blanket and a new set of pajams with cute red fox prints on it from the ever considerate Shizune and a cool dark red and black case for his laptop from Tsunade.

"Jiraya said he's sorry for not being able to have made it this year," Tsunade said and handed Naruto a parcel. "He sent you this. It better not be what I think it is."

Naruto had a heavy feeling inside that it was exactly what she (and he) thought it was. He opened the parcel.  
The latest volume of Icha Icha Paradise. Kankuru and Ten-Ten busrt in laughter and temari pressed her lips. Gaara glared at the book as if it was a living evil monster and Shizune sighed. The rest just looked confused so Kankuro took it upon himself to explain. "It's porn in the disguise of literature." 'Oh' and 'ah' and they nodded, still not understanding it all but pretending to.

"Jiraya you're a dead man," Tsunade declared dangerously and everyone had the common sense not to anger her any further.

The party ended not very long after that and the guests began to leave one after one. Aki and Yuki left together since they lived close to each other. sai was picked up by some butler, as was Haku. Sakura and Ren left after Naruto assured Sakura that there was no need to help them with cleaning up and then only Neji and Hinata.

Neji approached Naruto when all his family was busy cleaning up and pulled him to the side. Naruto stared in confusion as Neji pulled out something from inside his expensive jacket. It was and envelope, brown and simple like they send bills and formal government letters in.

"Sasuke asked me to give it to you," Neji said in a low voice. It was not really the truth, but it wasn't really a lie either. He handed the Naruto the envelope. Naruto's eyes widened for a moment before he took it and stared at it with an ominous feeling in his stomach.

"Don't look too scared," Neji smirked. "It's your birthday gift." and with that he and Hinata left, they too had been picked up by someone.

In his room, Naruto put all his presents on his desks except for Sasuke's gift. He stared at it, anxious to know what was inside and at the same time nervous. He hadn't expected Sasuke to be at his party but holding his gift now, Naruto couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed at his absence. God, he was such a girl sometimes.

Should he open the envelope? Was it worth the risk? Well, what in the name of Kyuubi could possibly in there? What could possibly happen? he bit his lip and tried to decide what to do. It was Sasuke's birthday gift to him after all. It would offense him if Naruto didn't open it. But then again it was from _Sasuke_, the one person who meant trouble for Naruto. What should he do? In the end he decided that to hell with it all and opened it.

He reached inside and could feel some sort of hard paper. Before he even pulled it out, Naruto already knew that it was a photograph. But what surprised him was rather what was in the photograph.

Two kids, about the age of twelve were seen in it. One had the blackest hair and eyes and the other had bright blue eyes and wild blonde hair. He gasped,the shock making him drop the photograph to the floor. When he bent down to pick it up he saw that the photo was flipped. On its back were words in black ink.

_"Happy birthday dobe. Do cherish this gift, it's the only copy I had. I believe you. Sasuke"_

.o.O.O.o.

* * *

A/N:

(1) - I bet you didn't remember those guys. Ren, Aki and Yuki are from the art-club back at Leaf Academy.

(2) - Those brushes Sai gave Naruto are actually very expensive. They're made of the hair found on the tips of the russian male Kolinsky red sable's winter coat. It was determined as the finest watercolor brushes. Being the rich kid he is, Sai can afford them as a gift fot Naruto whom he sees as an important key to something (and that's kind of a spoiler, but not really).

Random Babbling:  
My little brother started attending high-school and it's a boarding school (most of us go to boarding schools in my community). I recently found out they have bullet-proof windows over there!

-HairoM


	12. Don't Let Me Go

Hi again! don't you think I'm rather quick lately? Don't expect it to always be like this, though. I'm a horrible procrastinator! :(

Just a little WARNING before you dive into this chapter: IT'S GONNA BE FLUFFY! God, I'm such a girl! But I do love this chapter and I hope you'll share my opinion. Enjoy!

* * *

_chapter 12 - Don't Let Me Go _

.o.O.O.o.

On Monday came the first rain of the season. The sky and sun hid behind heavy grey clouds and people rushed about in the streets, hidden underneath their umbrellas. The rain was not that heavy, though, and you could find some people with no umbrellas to protect them, letting themselves be soaked by the rain.

Sasuke was one of those people. He loved rainy days. They always made him feel axcited and refreshed for some reason. It was a good feeling, because feeling refreshed was always nice. Walking in the rain was one of his favorite activities during the rainy season. It was not much of an activity, really, more of a pastime thing. It sounded pitiful, he knew, but it really wasn't, and he truthfully enjoyed it. The feel of raindrops against his skin, that feeling of utter freedom it brought. There was nothing quite like it. There was just something about walking in the rain that made him feel so free and at ease. Everyone was trying to hide from the rain but Sasuke loved it. Of course, he didn't do this all the time because then all his clothes would be ruined, but whenever he had some free time and was feeling like it, he would go on a walk in the rain.

The first day of rain was always more enjoyable than the rest. It was like the first time of doing something very significant, and no matter how many first days of rain have passed, to Sasuke they always felt the same.

Today was another first day of rain and Sasuke was out in the streets right after arriving home from school. He didn't even bother to put his bag in his room, just threw it carelessly on the couch, and he ignored Itachi when his brother asked what he would like to have for lunch. Sasuke didn't care what was for lunch, he just wanted to be in the rain.

For the past few days, his thoughts were in a jumble. A big messy jumble. It had all started the day Neji phoned him and informed him of Naruto's upcoming birthday. Apparently he wasn't invited,Sasuke suspected that it was by the order of Her Highness Tsunade-sama, Naruto's mother, but Sasuke hadn't thought otherwise. She probably hated him for causing her son so much grief. Well, tough.  
However, Neji, whom Sasuke knew harbored a deep crush (that was bordering on obsession) for Gaara, did something Sasuke hadn't expected him to do. He had informed Sasuke about the birthday party, and offered to deliver his gift to Naruto. Now, it wasn't that Sasuke was an ungrateful person, he just didn't think about saying thank you. He hadn't deemed it necessary to be thankful when he didn't ask for the help.

He knew what Neji had in mind, though.  
Neji was sure Sasuke had feelings for Naruto and although Sasuke wanted badly to deny it, he couldn't. So when Neji said: "but I can give Naruto your present", Sasuke could only laugh. It wasn't funny, and his laugh was humorless, but it was a laugh nontheless. Neji had probably wondered what was wrong with him. But still, Sasuke felt something in him and it was what made him say: "I'll see what I can do."

Sasuke had a hard time picking up a good gift for Naruto. The thing is, he wasn't usually the one picking up gifts for his friends. Itachi did it for him, it was simply too troublesome, but the fact that he had gone and actually tried to think of a gift for Naruto was saying something about the way he felt. Yes, Sasuke was a cold bastard but Naruto was like sunshine. Of course Sasuke himself didn't even dare to think that thought, it was too unnerving.  
So, right after he hung up, he sat down to think of a gift for Naruto. It had proved harder than he thought, since he didn't really know the guy. And it was funny how he actually wanted so much to know him more. Pathetic was his thought, really. He had thought about asking for Itachi's help, but then decided against it. He couldn't name it, but something stopped him from asking his brother for help. It was a gift for Naruto, and Sasuke felt like it should be private. Was he finally cracking up? It was very possible, considering all the other little things that has accumulated during the past days. And he wasn't thinking about those silly 'I-accidentally-put-my-cellphone-in-the-fridge' things. He was thinking about not being able to think of anything else but Naruto, or having dreams about him, or wondering if Naruto would be impressed when (Sasuke was a cocky bastard, justifiably) he would beat the crap out of Haki's Kendo team. He never felt this way before and what Sasuke didn't know, he didn't like. It was a defence mechanism of sorts, to make sure that he didn't get hurt. Annoying but, well, you had to survive somehow.

Sasuke first thought of buying Naruto clothes but then it seemed too simple and mundane to him. He wanted to make sure it was a gift Naruto would cherish. Sasuke's sadistic side wanted to make sure it would be something that would torment the guy a bit, if possible. What could possibly be the perfect gift? When he had thought about it some more, he remembered that day at the mall and so he came to the conclusion that he himself had made Naruto cry! But so what? He stared up at the ceiling, thinking hard. It would have to be something that will remind Naruto of Sasuke, of their past and of his love for him. Sasuke smirked in satisfaction. He wasn't really a sadist, but sometimes he did enjoy watching people suffer a bit. And recently he had found out that he preffered it if it was Uzumaki Naruto. But then he remembered how distraught he himself felt when he had watched Naruto's tears nearly fall on that day, and he scowled. God, he was a mess.

He deicded to let go of the problem for a while. Maybe, if he waited a day or two, the answer will come to him.  
And, indeed, it came.

Saturday night, alone in his room. Sasuke was staring at his wall when suddenly a patch of gold had caught his eye. In an instant he was out of his bed, making his way to the wall. He didn't even notice he was holding his breath untill he finally let it out when his eyes found what they were looking for.

A photograph.

At that moment, Sasuke knew it would be the perfect gift. It would remind Naruto of him, fill him with questions and consequently-the need to have the answers. And it would torment him a little bit. Sasuke smirked. But as he slid the photograph into a simple brown envelope, he tried to ignore that little voice in the back of his mind that kept telling him that he was also hoping it would make Naruto come to visit him.

Now he was in the rain, savoring the feeling of freedom.

Naruto hadn't contacted him like Sasuke had hoped. Maybe he was wrong? Maybe he should've given him a different present? Anyhow, he couldn't doubt his choice now because there was nothing he could do about it anyway.

A woman rushed past him, only to spare him an incredulous look. Let her stare, he didn't give a damn. A city bus drove by, straight through a huge puddle on the road but, luckily, Sasuke only got his shoes wet. It didn't matter anyway, he was soaked already.  
Then, suddenly, Sasuke noticed the rain stopped. He looked up and was greeted by warm blue eyes that belonged to a certain dobe who was holding a large blue umbrella over Sasuke's head.

"Hi Sasuke," those soft-looking lips said but Sasuke was too shocked to say anything. "Why didn't you take an umbrella with you?" Naruto asked with concern, his eyebrows suddenly furrowed.

"I was counting on you to bring it for me," Sasuke regained his composure and was smirking at Naruto. Naruto said nothing.

Sasuke's mind was like a storm of thoughts and questions. _Naruto looked really good in those jeans and boots, why was Naruto wearing an orange shirt underneath his jacket? Why is he here? That dark cashmere scarf seemed to be really warm, Naruto looked really good. _

"Thank you," once again Naruto's soft voice dragged him back to reality and Sasuke felt stupid for a moment there. Why did Naruto have such an effect on him? "For the photograph." Naruto looked away. He was blushing. _Thank you for believing me_, his eyes said.

Sasuke said nothing, letting the awkward silence linger for a little longer. He didn't know why he liked tormenting Naruto so much, all he could say was that there was an annoying feeling in his stomach whenever Naruto was around, or whenever he thought of him. He hated that feeling, so maybe he just wanted to hurt whatever-whoever-made him feel that way.

But more than that feeling, Sasuke hated Naruto's look after he'd been hurt by Sasuke.

That's why, not thinking at all, Sasuke grabbed Naruto's hand that wasn't holding the umbrella and pulled him down to sit on a nearby bench.

"Wha-?" Naruto began but Sasuke's hand on his cheek made him forget whatever it was he wanted to ask. He couldn't move, couldn't breathe, as Sasuke's fingers traced those whisker-like marks on his cheek ever so softly. Sasuke's face was serious and thoughtful, his eyes darker than usual and his pale lips slightly parted. Naruto knew his own face was flushed red.

"You're going to run away?" Sasuke whispered softly, leaning closer. Naruto swallowed. He did want to run away but at the same time he didn't. His breaths came out in pants, and he felt so hot in his warm clothes. He gave no answer.

"Then I'm going to kiss you." Naruto barely had time to register those words before soft pale lips descended upon his and he was soon on fire. Every molecule in his body burned and he felt so, so hot in his jacket and boots and thick socks! Sasuke's hands held his face firmly but gently and Naruto melted into his touch. Sasuke's tongue took the liberty of exploring his mouth and Naruto let him, unable to resist Sasuke at all. He'd never been able to resist Sasuke.

The umbrella lay forgotten on the ground, the two boys never noticing the rain that was gone, or the warm rays of the sun as it peeked from behind the clouds.

The need for air finally broke them apart. Naruto stared at Sasuke, too dazed for words, and Sasuke could barely restrain himself from doing other _things_ to Naruto, who looked so _edible_ with _that_ look on his face.

"Umm..." Naruto tried to find words, but his mind failed him yet again. Fortunately Sasuke spoke right then. "Did you like my gift?" he asked slyly and the smirk on his lips made Naruto wonder which one of them he was referring to. His blush deepened and he managed a small "yes". He liked them both, he thought, still blushing.

"Good."

Sasuke stood up and picked up Naruto's umbrella off of the ground. Naruto stood up too, not daring to look at Sasuke. What now?

Sasuke was cursing himself by then. What the hell was he thinking? What? Kissing Naruto was not on his to-do list for the day. In fact, it was not on any list at all. But he just couldn't stop himself! He had been thinking of Naruto, imagining his face, and suddenly said boy was there, holding an umbrella and smiling softly at him. Sasuke wanted to do something, maybe scream, but then Naruto said: "maybe I should go..." and began to move away and every part of Sasuke was going into panic, protesting against Naruto's departure.

"Wait," he said before he could stop himself, and reached out to grab Naruto's arm. Naruto spun around, Sasuke saw surprise in his eyes and something else... was it hope? "You're soaked, dobe," he said, masking his own feelings with indifference. He thought Naruto would blow him off, tell him it's ok and leave, but he didn't. Naruto's face suddenly lit up and he smiled at Sasuke, making the latter catch his breath at the sight. _God, I'm so pathetic_, Sasuke thought. "I'll give you something to change into," he told Naruto. His house was not far away, anyway. Also, he couldn't deny that big part of him that wanted to stay with Naruto for as long as possible.

~O~O~O~O~

Gaara was irritated. Very irritated. What the hell was Hyuuga doing in his house? He glared menacingly at the other boy but it seemed to not affect him at all. Which angered Gaara even more, of course. That Hyuuga was getting on his nerves already.

"Gaara, be nice!" Temari ordered but shook her head when her words seemed to fall on deaf ears. Gaara was still glaring and Neji was giving him a very serious look. Gaara wanted to give him a good punch, one that would break his perfect nose, and he felt so frustrated that he couldn't! It was just one tiny punch! No, he couldn't.

The truth was, Gaara was wary of Neji, to the point of being scared of him. And it was not like Neji was very intimidating, well not to other people, but he seemed to have succesfully scared Gaara. Which was quite the accomplishment, really. Gaara was not intimidated by anything and he didn't give a damn about the whole world and its sister. But Neji, poor him, had managed to frighten him. And all because he said some words which Gaara never wanted to hear again. It was times like these that he wished to be back at Wave, far away from this damned city and its inhabitants. Impossible, but hey, one can always wish! (1)

Neji wasn't doing anything anyway, he was just sitting there, looking slightly nervous and very serious about it. The only thing he said since coming in was 'good afternoon ma'am' to Shizune and 'hello Gaara-kun' when Gaara came to see who it was. Ever since then Neji sat on the couch, only saying 'thank you' to Temari when she served them tea.

"Why are you here?" Gaara demanded. At that moment he was the epitome of danger, a man not to mess with, but as usual, Neji was didn't seem impressed.

"I've missed your presence," was the answer. It sounded honest but Gaara didn't trust a word.  
"And I haven't so go back home," he replied coldly.  
"Why?"  
"'Cause I don't want you here."  
"No, why haven't you missed me?"

Silence.

"Why the fuck would I miss you?" from somewhere in the house came Temari's voice: "Gaara! Language!" They both ignored her and Neji asked, rather hurt, "don't you like me at all?" The answer was a cold and to-the-point "no."

"Do you hate me, then?" the answer, surprisingly, was also no but it was such a reluctant no, Neji nearly felt sorry for Gaara. "Then why don't you..." he struggled to find the right words, "why can't you like me?"

"Your questions are always ridiculous," said Gaara and looked away. He hated it, that feeling of anxiety, of wariness, he felt whenever he was around the Hyuuga. His world was being shaken and it was Neji's fault. But more irritating was his own inability to answer the other boy's questions. It wasn't that he didn't know the answers, because Gaara knew them all too well, he just couldn't bring himself to say the words. So many walls have been built around his heart and mind, so many defences were put up in order to protect them! He couldn't just surrender now. It wasn't worth it, nothing was.

"You keep saying that. And yet," Neji narrowed his eyes at him, "I know you don't mean it at all." Gaara snorted. "You don't know anything." Neji shrugged and replied, "you're just a coward."  
The punch that hit his jaw was hard enough to bruise him, but Neji couldn't even think about that because, suddenly, Gaara's face was only a few centimeters away from his, and Neji could feel Gaara's hot breath on his face. He tried hard not to blush, but as he felt his cheeks warming up, he knew he failed miserably. Gaara saw nothing of that, though. His eyes were two green flames of rage and he was holding Neji by the collar of his shirt, his knuckles white.

"You little bag of shit," he hissed, his voice dangerously low. "You don't know what you're talking about. You little snotty, rich bastard, you've never been hurt before. You've lived your whole life inside your perfect little bubble and you know nothing about love or hate, or pain! Who are you to judge me? Who are you to march right in and claim you love me? I will not lower myself to such ridiculous emotions and I will not let you ruin all that I've been working for all this time!"

Now, Neji was afraid. Gaara was furious, seriously pissed like hell. He hadn't intended on provoking the guy, honestly, and he wasn't expecting that. Was this how other people usually felt around Gaara? This great fear that he could hurt them, and the knowledge that he had no qualms about doing so? But if he did have no qualms about hurting people, why didn't he just beat the crap out of Neji? Something, a peculiar thought, made itself known in the back of Neji's mind.

"I'll never hurt you, Gaara-kun." And just like that, Gaara backed off and was back on the opposite couch. His expression was unreadable, as if that outburst was something he hadn't been able to control and was now trying to prevent another one.

Gaara was shocked, to say the least. It was almost like Neji was able to read his thoughts! His earlier outburst was not something he wanted to repeat. How could he let his control slip away like that? It was frustrating.

"I'll never hurt you, Gaara-kun," Neji repeated, almost begging. "Please, give me a chance."

~O~O~O~O~

"Good afternoon, Uchiha-san."  
"Please call me Itachi, Naruto-kun."

Naruto felt bad for dripping all over the floor and he had apologized to Itachi. Itachi smiled and assured him it was no problem at all. And indeed, a maid soon came rushing with a mop to wipe the wet floor. "Are you going to stay for dinner?" Itachi asked, still smiling amicably. "Umm, no, I don't think so. My mom would be mad if I don't come back," Naruto answered sheepishly. Of course, it wasn't really the truth. If he told her he was at a friend's she wouldn't mind. But if he told her he was at Sasuke's she'd be furious. And he wasn't going to lie to her.

"Don't be shy, Naruto-kun," Itachi insisted. "Besides, we're having Sasuke's favorite. You might like it too."

Sasuke's favorite. He wondered what that could be. He didn't like sweets, that Naruto knew, maybe something spicy? "Dobe, you're staying," Sasuke decided for him. "It will probably rain again later, so stay and Itachi will give you a ride home." It was obvious no one has ever argued with Sasuke before, what with the authority in his voice and the look he gave Naruto which dared him to protest. Naruto protested. "Bastard, you can't just decide for people!" he scowled. But he couldn't deny the fact that there was sense in sasuke's words. "Is that a yes?" Itachi asked, clearly amused. Naruto pouted and Sasuke sent his brother a glare before dragging Naruto away.

In Sasuke's room, the awkward silence resumed. Sasuke covered his nervousness by doing things. He picked up clothes for Naruto to change into, and after giving him a nice large towel he showed Naruto the bathroom. Then, while Naruto was in the shower, he lay down on his bed and heaved a deep sigh. What the hell was he doing? Not for the first time this day, he was wondering if he was finally going bonkers. Clearly, and Sasuke had a hard time admitting this to himself, he was attracted to Naruto. But frankly, who wouldn't? Naruto was gorgeous and there was no denying it. His goledn hair and bright cerulean eyes made him impossible to ignore. But then again, when he thought about it, Naruto's brother, Gaara, was also very good looking and so was Neji but Sasuke didn't feel attracted to them. Neji was an idiot and Gaara was just too creepy. What was it about Naruto that made him stand out? Why was he different? Was it the Kyuubi? No, Sasuke didn't think so. The Kyuubi was not an up-side of the whole situation, definitely not. So what was it? It sure wasn't just about the looks anymore, but then, what was it about?

Ok. He liked Naruto. Ok, Ok, he more than a little liked him. There, he admitted it. Happy now? But what was it about Naruto which made sasuke like him? His looks was a plus, but it was not the main reason, as he just figured out. So what was it? His head felt like it was going into supernova. Painful.

"Umm, where should I hang this?" he almost fell off his bed. Almost. He looked up, ready to give the blonde a good glare, when his mouth suddenly dried up and his eyes widened. Naruto was wearing one of Sasuke's faded jeans and a dark blue long-sleeved cashmere shirt. His hair was tousled more than usual and his cheeks were flushed from the heat of the shower. Sasuke nearly forgot to answer. When he did remember that he was supposed to say something, he schooled his features and got up to take the wet towel from Naruto.

"Thank you for letting me shower," Naruto said and Sasuke's reply was a simple 'hn'.

They still weren't talking when they went downstairs for dinner. As Sasuke had predicted, it did start to rain again, so Naruto decided it wouldn't hurt to stay (and find out what Sasuke's favorite food was). Itachi was overjoyed, and he made a big deal of fussing(2) around Naruto, making sure he was comfortable enough.

"You brother feels like a mother hen," Naruto whispered to Sasuke.  
"It's just the tip of it," Sasuke promised with irritation. "Wait 'till you meet his boyfriend. He's a monster." To that, Naruto looked up at him in surprise. "Am I going to meet him?" he asked softly. Whoops, Sasuke mentally kicked himself for the slip-up. His answer, therefore, was the safe and familiar 'hn'.

"You don't have to do this, you know," Naruto told him after a moment.  
"Do what?" he wanted to know. Naruto looked around. "This. Everything. Being nice to me." Sasuke was too stunned to reply and Naruto went on. "You're not normally nice to me." They didn't notice that Itachi was gone from the room and was secretly listening from behind the door (he'd kill anyone who says it was eavesdropping).

"Don't feel special, dobe," Sasuke said coldly. Didn't he normally enjoy hurting people? Then why the hell did it feel so horrible inside now?  
"I don't," Naruto replied. "I feel stupid." Why hadn't he listened to his instincts? Why hadn't he listened to his mind when it told him Uchiha Sasuke was no good for him? He felt so pathetic and idiotic for hoping, forever hoping. "I shouldn't have come," he concluded. Sasuke sneered. "Are you going to leave, then?" He didn't know why he was panicking, but he was. Don't leave, he wanted to say, but his mouth wouldn't obey. Naruto sighed. "Yes," he said, "I am." He stood up then and walked to the door. "Thank you for your hospitality, Itachi-san," he smiled at the older Uchiha. Itachi feigned surprise. "What? Are you leaving? But dinner hasn't started yet!" he said, eyebrows raised. "No, it's ok. I really should go," Naruto assured him. "Then let me give you a ride home!" To that Naruto seemed to panic. "No, no!" he protested. "It's ok! I have an umbrella. I don't want to trouble you!" And with that, he said goodbye and was gone.

_Don't let me go..._

~O~O~O~O~

"Foolish little brother."

Sasuke was still sitting at the table when Itachi came into the room. He ignored his brother and stared at his plate. It wasn't even a glare anymore, just a stare with no passion in it. Just like that, he felt like all his energy was sucked out of him.

A foolish little brother was what he felt like. _Come back!_, his mind screamed at someone who was no longer there.

"Sasuke." He hadn't felt the gentle hand that was on his shoulder, or his brother's familiar presence. Surprised, Sasuke looked up. Itachi looked down at him fondly. His little brother was all grown up now, but still so young! Itachi remembered how hard it was being a teenager, and also, how happy he had felt during those years. "Sasuke, don't be afraid," he whispered softly to his little brother. Sasuke's eyes widened but he made no other movement. "Don't let him go."

~O~O~O~O~

"Please, give me a chance."

Gaara wanted to run away and never look back. He was so tired of it all! If only he could fall asleep and wake up when all was over. But he wouldn't run away, not after the idiot called him a coward. Gaara was no coward at all.

His heart was beating frantically against his ribcage, as if demanding to be set free. His head was pounding painfully and he was suddenly so exhausted. Neji was giving him a concerned look, but Gaara couldn't look at him.

And what if he let Neji in? What if Neji's words were truthful? What if he truly meant them? Would it be just like he feared it might be? Didn't Gaara deserve to be loved as well? He wasn't different than any other human in the world, why was he destined to be alone?

Was love really worth the risk?

"If I tried," he began slowly, making Neji's eyes shine with hope. "Will you leave me be?"

"What?" Neji cried. "Like hell I will. I'll never leave you be."

Gaara didn't say anything for a long moment. Then a little smile began to form on his lips.

"Then, I'll try."

~O~O~O~O~

Naruto wasn't walking anymore. The rain was now a downpour but he hardly noticed it. He stood there, in the middle of the road, not moving. His heart felt so heavy in his chest. His lower lip was stinging, the result of biting it hard in an attempt to not cry. His limbs felt like they were magnetized to the ground, trying to drag him down with them.

Gaara would deifinitely call him stupid and Tsuande would be furious. But he was feeling horrible already, so it won't be that bad, right?

Naruto could feel the demon in him beginning to stir. Oh no, no, no. He can't let him out again! Not ever again! In his panic, he didn't notice the presence behind him. Kyuubi, however, did and it made the demon growl inside.

A hand reached out and grabbed Naruto's own. "Don't go," a voice whispered into his ear and Naruto finally let go of his bottom lip and let the tears fall down. A soft thumb was instantly on his face, gently wiping them away.

"I'm sorry," Sasuke said softly. Naruto turned to face him.  
"I wanted you to not let me go."  
"I didn't want to let you go."

The rain didn't matter any longer. Neither was the fear.

Sasuke's lips met Naruto's and he knew that this was it. Naruto. Everything else wasn't important now. He felt like he was dying, but if dying always felt this full of life, then he'd gladly die a thousand deaths.

Their tongues collided and battled for dominance. Naruto's whole body was burning again, electrified. His arms clung to Sasuke's neck and his hands dove into that beautiful dark hair. His heart was overwhelmed by emotions he couldn't describe. Sasuke's hands dug into Naruto's soft locks and his chest was pinned close to Naruto's, their hearts beating ecstatically against each other.

Tears mingled with rain, and pain mixed with healing joy.

This is it, Sasuke's mind supplied to him. He finally felt complete.

And this time, he would make it right. This time, he'll believe.

"I'm not letting you go again." The words were only a whisper, and neither of them knew who was the one who actually spoke them, but it didn't matter anyway. Those words applied to both of them.

* * *

.o.O.O.o.

A/N: Hi! I realize this looks like the end, but it's NOT. We all know, love is not easy and life is complicated. So, yeah, our lover boys still have some hardships to overcome. Thank you for reading! Reviwes are always appreciated! :)

(1) - I accidentally typed 'f' instead of 'w' and didn't notice untill I read the whole paragraph. And when I saw it, I laughed. 'cause it turned out to be: "Impossible, but hey, one can always Fish." LOL

(2) - Fussing. Yeah, I tried to remember the word really hard, but my mind protested because I over worked it. So, I decided to go to sleep and hoped that the next day will bring back my memory. It did! Just as I opened the file I was like, 'OMG, to FUSS!' :) so, I guess it a good thing to not push yourself too much and be patient.

-HairoM

edited:

I know some of you may have been notified twice about this chapter already, and I'm really sorry about it! I don't have a beta, and usually I don't go over the chapters 'cause i'm that lazy. This time I felt like it, though. And I'm truly for it all!


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